


Under the Red Hood

by Mimitanuki



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Feelings, Hand Jobs, Jason's foul mouth, M/M, Oral Sex, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:05:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4255785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimitanuki/pseuds/Mimitanuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dick Grayson goes missing in Blüdhaven, it's up to Batman, Robin and Batgirl to find him. But the Batfamily is up against a much more dangerous enemy than they could have imagined.<br/>What has happened to Dick? What are the reasons for his sudden dissapearance? And what does everything have to do with the mysterious figure of the Red Hood?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! A few notes before the story starts:
> 
> This fic is based in the Batman: The Animated Series Universe. This means that Jason has never been Robin, actually I don't think he even appeared at all in the original canon. So this story is basically my way of introducing the character to the universe.
> 
> Also, as more characters appear, I'll update the tags. Please bear in mind that this is going to have some smut in a near future, so the rating will go up. I'll warn you in which chapter, though, so don't worry.
> 
> Finally, if you notice some mistakes in the grammar forgive me, since English is not my first language.
> 
> It's also the first time I try to write something this big, so I'm fairly excited about the whole deal. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it <3
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except the ones I put in the story on my own.

_The first impression Dick had of the boy was that he seemed like a stray dog. Not because he was dirty or ragged or seemed hungry. On the contrary, Jason Todd was a really handsome young man, dark hair and clear eyes, playful smirk plastered in his face and a well trained body._

_No, Dick’s impression was triggered by the look the boy threw at him the second he saw him. The former Robin had parked his bike near the tiny house in the countryside of Paris, when Jason had rounded the building and stopped dead in his tracks._

_Dick had been well trained, and he could see the look of sheer distrust that flickered across Jason’s face. It was just a second, though, quickly hidden behind a layer of curiosity. Dick was left wondering who the hell was that boy, when his new master exited the house and greeted him, introducing herself and her other student, whose name was Jason Todd._

_Both men acknowledged each other with a nod and a pleasant enough handshake, but Dick knew better than to wholeheartedly trust that spark in the eyes of the younger man. It could mean innocent mischief as much as dark scorn._

_Only time would say, Dick guessed, as he followed madam Anjou inside the house that would become his home for the following months. She was a famous teacher of savate, a French martial art that specialized in kicks. When Dick had heard about it, he had become interested in it immediately, and had flown to Paris to find the best teacher he could._

_As it was, madam Anjou was that and a bit more. But she usually only took students that she herself had seen fight and deemed interesting to training a little bit more. Dick had had to use his full Robin –no, not Robin anymore- arsenal to have her interested. And that was after she had clicked her tongue and muttered something on the lines of “mixed arts, mixed focus” and “train him out of boxing and judo”._

_He later knew Jason had only needed one kick that had broken the dummy used for training. It was as infuriating as much as it was amazing, and just sparked the growing curiosity he was developing in who was this man called Jason Todd, and why it felt so familiar to be around him._

* * *

 

 “I trust your discretion in this matter” spoke the man on the other side of his wooden desk. His face was hidden by the shadows lurking in the small room, but the other man in the room could tell who it was by voice alone.

“Of course” he responded, because the man in the shadows was a client, and one that was willing to pay him handsomely. He laced his fingers together, appearing nonchalant about the whole matter and with a curt nod with his head signaled the slightly rumpled photograph on top of his desk. “What should I do with him?” he asked, more out of habit than because of an honest lack of knowledge on the issue.

In his line of work not a lot of people that contacted him wanted to deliver nice things to their targets. That’s why he was at least a bit surprised when he heard his new client chuckle and saw him shake his head.

“Nothing” he answered, voice calm enough. “He is a man for whom I have a deep respect, and I would grieve if he were… injured… in any way”.

“This is some delicate info you’re asking me to recover from him. This guy won’t just spill his guts”.

The smile was now twisted and downright sinister, but he was a professional. He didn’t show his emotions.

That, and he had his helmet on. Basic marketing strategy, really. Made him more intimidating.

“I did say I respect him, and would grieve his demise. But I’d rather he rot in the streets of this city than to leave this” he motioned to the pile of papers that he had provided the other man with, “unattended to”.

The masked man nodded and hummed. “I think I got that down already” he said. “Now, about my payment…”

“You’ll find that everything has been taken care of” interrupted the other man, showing the other a file with several papers on it. The masked man went through them, and true enough, they seemed to be in perfect order. He made an approving noise, and put them away.

“Then I have nothing else to say” he said, and rose to his feet, the man in shadows following suit. “I’ll have Dick Grayson down in less than a week” he promised, offering his hand to his client.

The other shook it with a strong grip, and let out an amused voice: “I’m relieved to know that you seem to live up to your reputation, but do try to deliver what I ask in that time” he said. And then, as if he just had thought about it, he chuckled darkly. “Maybe you should be careful of the Bat. He might pose a problem when dealing with Mr. Grayson”

The masked man snorted. Figured he had to deal with the Batman.

“Well, he is in for a surprise then” he said. “If he thinks he can win against the Red Hood, I’ll be delighted to give him a lesson he won’t forget” sneered the man, grabbing his leather jacket and disappearing in the night, covered by the shadows.


	2. Missing

_Jason had never met someone that could make him mad as fast as Dick could. He also had never met anyone that made his heart race faster in anticipation and excitement as the other man could. But this realization came a little later than the first one, when his initial wariness and distrusts of the stranger morphed into a strange and warm feeling of acceptance._

_Enlightenment over this matter happened during one especially tiring session in the woods surrounding the house. Madam Anjou had told them to race to a tiny waterfall in the deepest part of the forest and bring her a flower that only grew in the side of the pool under the falls. It could seem easy enough, but she had given them a time limit of two hours, and only to reach the water they would need to run almost an hour and a half._

_As it happened, both had taken upon themselves to dare each other to a race. This was common occurrence in the few weeks they had known each other, rivalry flaring like a damn torch every time one of them caught the other looking._

_Jason wouldn’t acknowledge it over his dead body, but he was fascinated by Dick. The nimble body of that stranger was stronger than it looked, and he had been trained as well as Jason himself had, and that was saying something. He especially enjoyed watching his muscles rippling under his training outfit, or peeking a little whenever the older man took off his shirt to wipe out the sweat._

_Right now, as both of them sprinted towards the house in the glade with the damn flowers in their hands, Jason was enjoying watching the way Dick’s ass flexed every time he jumped over a root or twisted mid-air to avoid a low branch._

_“Come on, Jay! You’ll get lost if you don’t make the effort to at least keep behind me!”_

_“I’m letting you go ahead of me, Dickie! It wouldn’t be fair otherwise!”_

_“Please, I can totally beat you in a race. As a matter of fact, just what I’m doing right now.”_

_“Just ‘cause I’m good like that, not to take advantage of your age.”_

_“You’re only three years younger than me!_

_“Plenty of time, old man.”_

_“Cheeky little mutt!”_

_“Mutt?”_

_“Fitting, don’t you think?”_

_“I’ll teach you!” said Jason, sprinting and jumping on top of Dick. They ended up on the ground, Jason trying very hard to pin his rival down, and finding it trickier than he originally thought._

_“Okay, okay! I surrender” wheezed Dick in the end, cheeks red from exhaustion and body trembling due to the effort spent in running in the forest and fighting Jason._

_The younger man just grinned widely, enjoying his win, and pressed their bodies closer, letting his weight drop completely on top of Dick, who groaned clearly not amused and completely uncomfortable._

_That was just another thing Jason took great pleasure in: despite being younger than Dick, he had almost ten pounds of weight on the other man. And one or two inches in height, too._

_“Damn it, Jay, you’re heavy” huffed Dick, trying to move the dead weight on top of him, with no success. When he realized it was a futile effort, he groaned, exasperated. “And I have a root under my ribs that is really killing me here”._

_Jason just snorted. “What a fucking princess” he said, not really thinking what he said until it was too late._

_Time stretched for what seemed an eternity, until Dick talked again._

_“What did you call me?” he said, voice sweet and cheerful._

_Oh fuck. Jason knew that tone. It meant he was well and truly fucked up._

_“Uh” he said, a true show of oratory skills._

_“That’s what I thought” snorted Dick, the smug bastard. He was way too cheeky for someone who was pinned to the ground by a younger man. It was an attack to his pride and honor, one that Jason had to answer._

_Man, but he was well on his way to hell for this. “Yeah, I kind of wondered if you’d rather I call you milady. Or maybe, you know ma’am or…”_

_“That’s it, you’re dead” snarled Dick, bucking so suddenly that Jason almost fell down. But then Dick’s body pressed against his crotch and he let out a startled gasp when he felt a jolt of pleasure burst at the contact._

_He was hard. Like, very hard. The surprise was enough that Dick trashed again and this time managed to dislodge himself from Jason, who fell to the ground and on his ass, with a raging boner and his mind fried at the discovery._

_Dick shot up and glanced down at him, smiling widely and putting his best smug face. Jason only stared at the older man as if he had grown horns and tried to connect the fact that Dick had just made him pop a boner. That he was hot for Dick._

_“Fuck, man, it’s almost nightfall!” said Dick, looking up at the sky. Jason could only look at the dark with a numb feeling._

_“I’m so killing you if Master leaves us without dinner. Again” he growled, throwing Jason daggers with his eyes and darting through the woods._

_The younger man could only stare at the space left by him. Then he covered his face with his hands and moaned miserably, because he was so into Dick it was pitiful._

 

* * *

 

 The screen of the computer shone brightly in the darkness of the cave, and Batman groaned and rubbed his eyes, reclining in his seat and breathing deeply. A quick glance to the clock told him he had spent almost five hours organizing his files, and the man grumbled, mildly surprised at himself.

There were a few minutes to eight in the morning, and the vigilante resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t getting sleep today. He glanced one last time to the screen, where the image of a young woman smiled softly at him. Batman shuddered at the memory.

She was one of the victims he couldn’t save when he had worn the cape, years ago. There had been many others, but she had always struck him in a deep way. Maybe because it was at the beginning of everything, before Robin had come along to brighten Bruce’s days and help Batman carry the burden of a city to protect.

A shrill ring snapped him out of his daze, and he smacked angrily the keyboard, effectively shutting off the computer and the guilty memories. He looked around and found the phone that had startled him, a wave of uneasiness creeping up his spine. However, he was relieved to see that it was the one programmed to receive Bruce Wayne’s calls, and not Batman’s.

Shuffling closer, he picked the object and let himself drop in his chair with a soft grunt. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he was getting old enough not to spend his night with the eyes trained on a computer with no rest. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, tiredly.

“Bruce Wayne” he mumbled, not really faking the tired tone in his voice that suited a billionaire at 8:00 in the morning.

The voice in the other side of the line was a woman’s, surprisingly strong and authoritative.

“Mister Wayne? This is Captain Amy Rohrbach, from the Blüdhaven Police Department” said the woman.

He knew the name, of course. Having her calling so early in the morning made his previous feeling of dread return.

“We don’t know each other, Mr. Wayne, but I’m…”

“Dick’s superior” he finished. He noticed the startled silence and amended his outburst. “He mentioned you” he said. It wasn’t exactly true, but he couldn’t tell her that Batman had an extensive file for each cop in the BPD.

She didn’t seem convinced, actually her voice was tense when she asked him: “I suppose he didn’t mention it recently?”

Bruce frowned. He didn’t like the direction the conversation was headed.

“… He didn’t” he said, carefully.

He heard her swear softly, a sound that grated on his nerves and had him alert in a second, tiredness forgotten in the wake of his instincts as the Dark Knight.

“What is it, Captain Rohrbach?” he growled, dread hanging over him like a spider web.

“Dick hasn’t come to work in two days, Mr. Wayne. He doesn’t answer our calls and his house was deserted when we searched it” she said, voice controlled but too forced to be a completely professional call.

Bruce had been expecting something to have gone wrong in Blüdhaven, but the news still hit him like a foot to the stomach. Dick had disappeared? How? And why hadn’t Bruce noticed before? He had been giving him fairly regular updates on his work as Nightwing… Then Bruce remembered that the boy usually did so weekly, and cursed under his breath.

“Mr. Wayne? Are you alright?” asked Amy, worry in her voice.

“Yes, I’m…” he started, but stopped. His heart was beating fast and he could almost feel himself start to hyperventilate. He was panicking. He couldn’t afford himself to panic. Not right now.

Taking a few steadying breaths, he remembered who was that Captain Rohrbach was talking about.

Dick Grayson, his ward, a bright boy both in character as well as intellect.

Nightwing, a vigilante, his first Robin, a natural acrobat and trained fighter.

He could take care of himself. This was no amateur, this was his boy, the one that had fought beside him against the Joker, Two-Face or the Riddler.

He calmed down and turned his attention to the other end of the call. Amy had stayed silent, respectful of him, but Bruce knew it was time to move.

“Do you have time this afternoon, Captain Rohrbach?” he asked.

“The drive to the ‘Haven is just short of half an hour from Gotham, Mr. Wayne” she said, voice regaining her initial strength. “I expect to see you in my desk in an hour” and having said this, she ended the call without waiting for his answer.

Not that she needed to put pressure on him, as he was already calling the whole Family by before she had even ended the call.


	3. Snitcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, noticed the rating going up? I wanted to keep it in Mature but then Explicit came and smut happened. So that's kinda it.
> 
> Enjoy!

_It happened one night, when they were laid in their sad lodgings, trying not to mumble or groan too hard about the Spartan training when Dick popped his knee a tad too hard and a whine escaped his throat._

_“Will you just shut up? You’re keeping me up” quickly shot Jason, throwing himself to the chance to bring his rival down._

_The older boy just groaned harder, massaging his knee and trying very hard to be the mature adult in their situation. The intentions were good, but Jason had a knack for pushing all of his buttons._

_“I’m serious, you make so much noise at night, it’s totally distracting” pressed Jason._

_“Well, excuse me. I wouldn’t want to keep you up and make you slower in training from lack of sleep than you already are” bit out Dick, popping now his shoulder._

_“You’re calling me slow? I beat you today at the field!”_

_“Just because you played dirty! Throwing sand at my eye is not…!” yelled Dick, cracking his fingers in his right hand one by one._

_“Oh, just stop it!” hissed Jason, throwing him a murdering look._

_“Stop what?” frowned Dick, absentmindedly cracking the other hand._

_“Popping your damn joints!” screamed Jason, shuddering while staring at his hands as if they were some kind of monster._

_Dick raised his eyebrows, a smile slowly creeping in his face._

_“Oh, like this?” he purred, twisting his elbow until it made a popping noise. That last one had actually hurt but the noise had been kind of disgusting and it was worth seeing Jason’s completely nauseated expression. His whole body was shaking and Dick couldn’t help the laugh bubbling out of him._

_“Stop it!” growled Jason, his voice at half potency than its usual. The older boy wondered when had he become the childish one, going for the other elbow without letting his eyes wander from Jason’s. He saw the other boy mouthing don’t you dare and Dick knew it was a lost cause._

_“You’re. So. Dead” snarled Jason, throwing himself on top of Dick, that was laughing like a madman, and making them both fall onto the old mattress the older man had the courage to call bed._

_There was fumbling, turned quickly to a fight to win the upper hand, and Dick was suddenly hyper-aware of everything around him, of Jason’s weight over him, on the strong body trying to pin him down, on the eyes that seemed to burn like a raging fire. They were both gasping and groaning, and Dick couldn’t say who was the first to start groping instead of hitting, the first to search flesh instead of clothes to hold to._

_But he could tell that in the end it was Jason the one that closed the last of the distance between them and joined their lips together into a messy and surprised kiss, a desperate caress that puzzled the younger boy as much as it did with the older._

_“Jason” rasped Dick, and when had he become so hard it hurt, when had he started to watch the rise of Jason’s chest when he breathed and think how nice it would be to kiss that broad expanse of skin and taste him._

_“Dick” answered Jason, and the older man knew he was well and truly fucked now, because the mutt sounded as wrecked as he was feeling, and he may had the first kiss, but Dick would make damn sure he’d have all the future ones._

_He rose from the bed to push their lips together, to taste Jason, and this time there was tongue and teeth, as messy as before, but much better. Jason was hot and perfectly ok with letting Dick trace the insides of his mouth with his tongue, and responded with equal enthusiasm. Dick felt his cock swell painfully, and he barely managed to disentangle himself from Jason enough time to all but rip his pants off, and then he had to stifle a broken cry when the younger man dove in and took his cock into his mouth._

_Jason was clumsy and had no technique, but he was making a damn effort in making it good for Dick, and that was so fucking hot, having him, the proud Jason Todd, between his legs, sucking him off as his life depended on it. He cursed and grabbed the younger man by the hair, letting his own head fall back into the pillow and moaning every time Jason’s tongue moved on his length._

_As things were, Dick was far too gone to last for more than a few minutes, and when he came it was with a wrecked sob that was but torn apart from him. It hit him so hard he blanked for a moment, panting heavily and body trembling just as if an electrical current had struck him. When he regained some of his cognitive function he realized that Jason was still fully clothed, shivering with need and still hard as a rock. Dick made a throaty noise, and Jason jumped him again, fumbling with his trousers and taking his own weeping cock in his hand, tugging at it with a brutal pace. He was moaning shamelessly, and he looked so young, so vulnerable, that Dick just had to pull him down for a ravaging kiss, tasting of his own come in Jason’s mouth. The other boy moaned at the kiss, and his hand stopped for a second, too focused on returning the caress and licking and biting Dick’s lips. Then Dick gasped, and his hand went between their bodies and joined Jason’s in his cock, and it was all the younger boy needed to come with a strangled moan, leaving him spent and completely flattened on top of Dick._

_The weight of the body on top of him and the feeling of drying semen between their bodies were uncomfortable, but Dick didn’t move one inch. Jason’s heat and heartbeat, his breaths and the little kisses he was pressing on his neck, they made up for everything._

_Because in that moment, there was only them, and it was enough._

 

* * *

 

"How is he holding up?" asked Batgirl, red hair waving after her while the young vigilantes swept between the streets of Blüdhaven.

"Well, you know" started Robin, slowly. "Alfred had to pull some pills to even make him close his eyes. He was exhausted; I don't know how he managed to keep going for so long after that crazy patrol. At least for now, he's out like a light" he concluded, worry washing his words.

Batgirl could only nod, the numbness that had spread through her when she first got the news of Dick's disappearance the only thing preventing her from freaking out. They weren't in a relationship anymore, but Barbara still loved him like a brother. When Bruce called her and had informed her that Dick was missing with no leads whatsoever, she almost had snapped at him to not joke about such things. But his voice was controlled and tense, and she had grown cold by the second. She only had time to blurt out some excuse to her father before running off and towards the Manor.

She had found out Bruce had been summoned by Dick’s superior in the B.P.D. to give him the details, and then after that Batman had been patrolling Blüdhaven, searching for clues about Nightwing either as vigilante or as Dick Grayson, and had come home empty-handed. Bruce would never say it, but he had taken a bigger blow that he cared to admit. Barbara saw his strong features slightly pale, and dark bags under his eyes.

He had been circling though the darkest corners of Blüdhaven from dusk till dawn, and still no trace of Dick.

Today it was Batgirl and Robin patrolling Nightwing's turf, and things weren't really looking good.

"Any idea where can we look now?" asked Robin when they came to a stop in one of the buildings.

She wanted to say yes, to instinctually know where to go, who to ask. But she had nothing. She shook her head, grim, and they stood silently in the dusty rooftop for what seemed an eternity, until suddenly Robin perked up.

"Snitchers!" he said, brightening considerably. At her blank stare he hurried and explained "The cops have snitchers in the streets that run info for them. They have always an ear on every juicy rumor and occurrence in the streets, and if the police is involved they may give us some piece of evidence" he concluded, grinning.

Barbara felt the gears in her brain turning the idea around, and was surprised at how good it actually was -Tim was smart, she knew, but he still surprised her from time to time.

"If we talk to the cops, maybe they could also contact the snitcher. Warn him not to run from us" she said, a plan slowly forming in her head.

And by the looks of it, the same was happening in Robin's head.

"There is this police woman, the one that called Bruce..." he started.

"Capt. Amy Rohrbach" she completed, grinning also.

They were both jumping off the building towards the commissary before the idea had even settled itself in their heads.

 

"I don't like having vigilantes in my city, you know. Nightwing is enough -people like him and he doesn't try to thwart police efforts but..." groaned Capt. Rohrbach, pinching her nose bridge.

"We need your help, captain" started Batgirl. "We need the name of one of the police snitchers."

"Why do you need that? Blüdhaven is too far from Gotham for the rumors to reach these streets, and I doubt you find useful any gossip about our city back in your own" she asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

She was sharp, that much was true, and Batgirl bit her lip, wondering briefly if they should mention Dick. She threw a quick glance towards Robin and saw that him too was thinking what they should be saying to the policewoman.

However, Amy suddenly opened her eyes as a flash of understanding crossed her face.

"You're looking for clues on Dick Grayson" she said. It was not a question, and she seemed even more suspicious now.

A sharp mind was dangerous, and Barbara found herself going through hundreds of excuses and blurted the one that seemed best.

"It's Bruce Wayne. He... Well. After he came back yesterday from the Haven he became restless, he was out of his mind, and Batman found out he was going to offer a reward of two million dollars at the one that could give him some clues about Mr. Grayson" she said. Two pair of eyes were staring at her, but she continued her explanation without stopping to think.

"You can understand the scum that kind of money would attract. Batman wanted to keep the matter as covert as possible, and managed to convince Mr. Wayne to leave the matter to us. Dick Grayson has also been an exemplary man of Gotham, and we won't stand by while he might be endangered."

A stretched silence followed her speech, and for a brief moment Barbara feared she had gone overboard with it. But then Capt. Rohrbach blinked and scratched her neck, coughing and mumbling "Well, that's... Good. I'm glad. Officer Grayson, Dick, is a good man".

Both vigilantes relaxed on the spot, and Robin let a timid grin come back to his lips. The policewoman started fumbling in her desk, and finally took out a piece of paper with a number written on it. While she reached for he's phone and started the call, she turned towards the kids and shot them a leveled glance.

"I'll put you through one of our informants. He's difficult to please and usually doesn't give us anything unless he deems it interesting. He's an odd fellow, but maybe he'll be of help. If he hasn't heard anything, I doubt someone in the Haven has".

Robin cocked his head to a side and crossed his arms.

"If he's so good at sniffing out info, why haven't you contacted him before?" he asked, curious.

Amy just smiled ruefully. "I did. He just didn't care enough to give me anything" she said. Before any of the young vigilantes could say something, a male voice rose at the other end of the line and the captain jumped at the chance.

"Pete, I'm sending you Batgirl and Robin from Gotham" she blurted.

Silence, and then the voice returned, louder now.

"I'm serious, Pete. They need to ask you some questions. About the Grayson incident" she said, and waited while the man at the other end answered her. "I'm not plotting anything. They are here for real."

More grumblings, but this time they weren’t as loud as before. "You can ask them their reasons when you see them, Pete. And for your information, I'm not asking if you want to meet them. I'm telling you they are going to your place and ask you some questions, I'm just telling you beforehand so you don't have a coronary."

A dry laugh that almost seemed like a bark and then the line ended. Amy sighed and turned towards the vigilantes.

"I did what I could. Now it's up to Pete to tell you what he knows" she said, scribbling down something on a paper. She handed it to Bat girl, who took a look at the address, and nodded.

"Thank you, captain Rorhbach" she said.

The other woman waved her hand dismissively. "Don't thank me. Just keep me informed if you find something".

Robin nodded. "Will do."

 

The snitcher Amy had talked to was a tall man, blonde hair falling over his shoulders and a cigarette in his mouth. He wore a pitifully old hoodie and worn jeans, and had the posture of a man defeated who had resigned himself to fate.

“Are you Pete?” asked Batgirl, carefully watching as the man approached them from the wall where he had been resting his back.

“Yep, that’s me name, girlie-bat” cackled the man, a rueful smile in his lips that didn’t reach his grey eyes. His voice was deep and slightly broken, the marking of a long-term smoker. “Missus Captain tells me youse got some questions ‘bout that cop. Must be one hella Dick” he said, putting out his cigarette while laughing dryly at his own joke.

Both vigilantes scowled and Robin snapped at the snitcher “A man’s life could be in danger! How can you joke…?!” hissed the youngest vigilante, grabbing the informant by his hood.

“Lotsa man die in the city, kiddo. Not my friggin’ business if a cop goes missin’” barked Pete, an almost feral expression in his face. He batted away Robin’s hands and rearranged his clothes.

“We don’t have time for this!” said Batgirl, losing the little patience she had left. She approached the snitcher and tried to appear intimidating in spite of him being almost a head taller than her. “Do you know anything about him or not, Pete?”

He just stared down at her, expression unreadable, until she saw him sigh and raise his hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay. Dun’ wanna get on the Bats bad side” he mumbled. “What you wanna know?”

“Do you know what happened with him? Was he kidnapped? Or did he…?”

“Mmh… I reckon the first. No talk ‘bout dead cops in the streets, ya know. This stuff’s always got people interested”.

“What else?”

“That’s about it, sis.”

“What!? You must be joking! That doesn’t tell us anything!”

“He ain’t dead, yeah? That’s one point for ya.”

“But… But… You must have heard something else! Seen something!”

“Lissen here, girlie, I don…”

“Please. Anything will help.”

Her voice had broken, and Barbara had to fight sudden tars of anger and desperation. This man was their last resort, the very last thread that could bring Dick home. She wouldn’t… She couldn’t lose him, not after everything.

“Please”, she repeated, softer, and Robin looked at her worriedly. His lower lip was trembling, and Barbara saw just how young Tim really was. He may put up a front and pretend to be tough, but the kid must have been a mess. Just like her. And Alfred. And Bruce.

Pete was looking at them with a strange expression in his face. For a second there, Barbara saw everything crash, the man losing all the respect in them when they weren’t more than a pair of desperate kids.

But then, the man smiled with a sudden warmth that caught her unprepared. “Really, what a cruel guy, that cop. Make you guys worry ‘bout him like this” he said, no mockery in his voice, no snark or malice at all. His soft tone seemed to make him years younger, and Batgirl wondered what kind of life had this man led before he became cynical and resigned with everything.

Pete breathed deeply, and then dropped his eyes to the ground, voice lowering until it was barely a whisper, and Batgirl had to make an effort to understand the hurried words.

“Truth is, I know this cop of yours. Good fella, I tell ya. Stupid too, ya kno’? Didn’t take no bribes ever or hit too hard the scum from ‘ere. Talked to ‘im one, two times, too” he started, and breathed again. “’Bout a week ago I saw something… Well, at least I reckon I did, ya know, was at night and me eye are no good at dark… I saw the cop patrolling, with his mate and all, but in one building there was… a man, I think. Didn’t see it well then, but it bugged me, an’ I started feelin’ that someone was out there, looking for somethin’” he said, voice nothing more than a nervous whisper.

Batgirl felt her blood run cold, but this was something new. A lead. Hope resurfaced and she grabbed at it like a drowning woman.

“Was someone following him?” she asked, tension creeping in her back. That was important. It meant there had been premeditation, planning and intent. And that also meant that there was a reason for Dick’s disappearance. At her side, Robin was also listening carefully, eyes wide open.

Pete swallowed, and glanced around him, nervous, as if he feared something. _Or someone_ , thought Batgirl grimly.

“Yeah. Saw the man couple more times. And then one day, nothing. Disappeared. Then they say this cop’s missin’, and here y’are” finished Pete.

There was a tense silence until Barbara put her hand in his arm and asked, voice soft. “You know who it was”. It wasn’t a question.

“Can’t be sure” avoided him, fumbling with a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.

“But you have an idea?” she pressed.

“One hears things” he smiled nervously.

“Tell me, please, Pete.”

He looked at her, then avoided her gaze while he lit another cigarette.

“There’s a new gun in the ‘Haven. No one’s seen his face, an’ he ain’t made big moves yet, but rumor says he will gun any soul you want if you pay nice. Also, he wants in to the drug business” he whispered. “And if you wanna keep you head in place you better keep your nose outta his business”.

“Does he have a name?” asked Robin, almost vibrating with energy.

Pete took a deep breath on his smoke and blew the smoke slowly. In the end, he said, with a cracked voice, “We call ‘im the Red Hood”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, things are heating up, maybe?


	4. Who is the Red Hood?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just so you know. More smut on flashback ;)

_Jason sucked gently on a nipple, enjoying the broken moan that escaped from Dick’s throat at the sensation. The younger man grinned lazily, rolling his hips slowly while playing with the hardened bud inside his mouth._

_“Jaaaaay” whined Dick, and the sound of his voice sent a jolt of arousal straight to his cock. He thrust with a little more force than he intended and the older man chocked a broken cry._

_“Fuck” rasped Jason, because he was trying to be gentle, he really was, but the sight of the pliant body under him, flushed and hot, was enough to almost make him forget everything and just pick a brutal pace until Dick was reduced to a crying mess._

_The younger man breathed deeply and licked his lips, smiling like a predator and grabbing Dick by the hips, resuming his lazy rhythm and shivering with the effort of maintaining such a punishingly slow pace. It was worth, though, seeing Dick rolling his hips along with him, body opening for Jason. His eyes were glazed with raw pleasure, and his lips were puffed and glossy from sucking Jason’s cock._

_The first time they had sex it had been a surprise for both of them. They didn’t talk to each other for a week except for the required courtesies, and Jason could admit he was glad to have time to think. It wasn’t exactly productive, because he was either remembering the events of that night and getting hard at uncanny speeds or trying to imagine the possible ways a conversation with Dick could go. Jason supposed saying “hey, you’re hot and have a really nice ass and I was thinking that we should totally fuck like, right now” was not really the way to go._

_The second time only surprised Dick because, well, Jason had spent almost two weeks fantasizing about the older man naked and under him, moaning his name again and again and again. So no one could really blame him when one night he just strode to Dick’s bed, straddled him and roughly kissed him before the other had any time to react._

_“Wanna fuck?” he had asked, licking his lips and staring down at the other man, who had flushed a dark red and had started babbling something about “giving a warning beforehand” and “God damn it Jason”. There was no rejection though, and Jason felt a very flattering hardness pushing against his hips from Dick’s crotch._

_The third, the fourth, the fifth times weren’t surprise anymore. They started searching for each other’s heat whenever they had time, and Jason knew he probably should be proud they actually managed to go at it almost every day. It felt right to be with Dick, something as natural as breathing._

_Then he realized something had started to change. The times were the clashed in a frantic and desperate need slowly turned into gentler touches and kisses, the hard and almost animalistic encounters became lazy and addicting, each of them mapping the other body, learning everything that made them moan and curse._

_A worried voice snapped Jason from his daydream._

_“Hey, you with me, mutt?” asked the older man, a breathless moan escaping from his lips when Jason resumed his thrusts._

_“Yeah. Just thinking about stuff” groaned the younger man, increasing the pace and searching for their well deserved relief._

_Dick moaned loudly when Jason’s cock hit home and grazed his prostate. His hands shot up and grabbed the younger man in the back, leaving scratch marks that in a couple of minutes would be angry red. Jason bit Dick in the neck as revenge, licking the brand new hickey and smiling like a fool._

_“What… ungh… stuff?” croaked Dick. Once again, Jason was amazed how much the older man loved to talk that he had to chat even during sex. It was something that drove Jason mad, knowing that the other could still retain some clarity during their encounters. He always tried to make Dick a quivering, unthinking mess, with different levels of success every time._

_Focused as he was in keeping hitting Dick’s sweet spot and making him sob with need every time, he didn’t register he had answered the question until he heard his own breathless voice._

_“I think I love you”._

_Jason froze for a second, the weight of his words sinking into him, and had a moment of panic before Dick suddenly cried loudly and he arched his back, coming harder than Jason had ever seen him. His body tightened impossibly, and Jason gasped when his own orgasm was wrenched out of him, thrusting one more time inside the sinful heat of Dick’s body and riding out the waves of pleasure that left him completely boneless and spent on top of the other man._

_They remained still for some time, their frantic breathing the only thing that broke the silence. Jason was still shocked at his confession, the words moaned in a peak of pleasure but true, so true that for the first time in years Jason was afraid._

_He didn’t need this, he didn’t want this. Having sex was one thing, but getting feelings attached was something else altogether. The mission wouldn’t let him have this –whatever it was- with Dick._

_“Jay” asked Dick, voice soft and fragile, and the younger man didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye. “Did you mean it?”_

_No way, that was just the heat of the moment. That’s what he wanted to say. But instead he just nodded and mumbled “Yeah.”_

_And he had known it back then at the forest, had known it the first time they had sex, but now there was no doubt left. He had fallen for Dick, in a way he didn’t think it would be possible for him in his life, but there he was._

_In fucking love with an older man, an infuriating, nosy, and gorgeous man._

_He was so screwed._

_Then he felt the soft caress of lips in his temple, sweet and loving, and when he turned around he found himself pinned down by beautiful blue eyes, warm and gentle, and a hand laced together with his._

_“Good. Since I’m head over heels for you too, Jay” chuckled Dick, voice soft and amused, before diving in and kissing Jason._

_He was so screwed it wasn’t funny anymore, he thought, just before smiling and returning the kiss._

 

* * *

 

Bruce was actually relieved that Alfred had forced some sleeping pills on him, even if his way of thanks was a scowling expression and more brooding than usual. And as usual Alfred just gave him an unimpressed look and continued with his usual duties.

Thanks to that, however, Bruce was now rested and ready to immerse himself again in the search of Dick. Thankfully, Batgirl and Robin had just returned from Blüdhaven with a lead, something that made Batman pat their shoulders, and after a brief moment of indecision, smile a little. The kids had done good; better than he had, actually.

But the name they had brought back was a problem in itself. The Red Hood.

“Is… Do you think this guy has to do anything with the Joker?” asked Batgirl, worried.

Batman shook his head. There was an idea running back and forth in his mind, and he motioned for them to go to the computer in the Cave. After a few tense and silent minutes of search, he made a noise of satisfaction and pointed towards the screen. There, in a picture taken from a security feed, was a man dressed in a leather jacket and a red helmet.

“I am almost sure this is the Red Hood we are looking for” he announced.

“But… That’s Gotham?” asked Batgirl, studying the surroundings of the man in the picture.

“Yes. He operated in this city for a brief time, but months ago he vanished before I could discover more of him” said Batman.

“Then, that’s good, isn’t it? We can track down the guy now that we know he is in Blüdhaven!” said Robin excitedly.

Bruce shook his head.

“It won’t be that easy, Robin. This Red Hood is not an ordinary impersonator of the original. Actually, I believe he wears that persona as a mockery to the real one” said Batman.

“What does that even mean?” asked Batgirl, frowning.

In that moment, Alfred, who had been standing in the backstage, coughed and approached the group.

“May this be about the incident with the Joker eight months ago, Master Bruce?” asked the butler.

Batman nodded. “That’s right, Alfred” he confirmed.

“Wait, wait” said the redhead. “What incident?”

“A few months ago, the Joker escaped Arkham, leaving no trace. But a few weeks later he ended up in the main gate handcuffed and screaming about ‘a rude impersonator and copycat’” started Batman.

“So? You caught him. What does it have to do with our Red Hood?”

“I didn’t catch him. After interrogating the Joker, he said that it had been this copycat who had appeared in front of him, pulled a gun on him and tried to kill him. It seems that this Red Hood couldn’t finish it, though, so he just put the Joker back at Akrham” explained Batman, a serious frown in his expression.

“What?” said Barbara. She was blinking with surprise, and Batman couldn’t blame her. “Then… he’s a vigilante? But, if he is, why would he follow Dick?” she wondered.

“Maybe he was actually trying to protect Dick?” tried Robin.

Batman shook his head. “If Pete was telling you the truth, he’s taking work as a hired gun and plans to become a drug dealer. It doesn’t make sense” he said.

“What if there are two of them?”

“Unlikely.”

There was a stretched silence, until Alfred coughed again, softly. “Maybe it would be in our best interests to look for Mr. Pete and question in a little more depth. Far from Blüdhaven and under the protection of the Batman he may be able to speak more freely without worrying about the consequences” he said.

There was a brief silence, and Batman thought the idea over. They really needed more info on the Red Hood. What were his motives? Why hadn’t he killed the Joker and turned him in, and now was a hired gun? Had it been a momentary weakness or was there something else?

Batman sighed. “Alright, we’ll bring Pete back. There’s nothing else we can do for now, at least until we have a firmer grasp on the situation” said Batman, as he readied the Bat-mobile.

There was no time to lose. Each moment the chances of Dick being… No. He wouldn’t think about that. Bruce gritted his teeth and tried to suppress the gut-wrenching feeling that had taken a hold on him, and hoped Dick would stay as safe as possible.

Unless he was never safe from the beginning. And if that was indeed the case, Batman didn’t know what he would do.

 

This time, Batman came along with Robin and Batgirl to Blüdhaven. Gotham was having a peaceful night, and the GCPD didn’t need the Bat for once. The three vigilantes soon arrived at the city, Batman and Robin in the Bat-mobile and Batgirl in her bike.

The younger members of the family guided Batman through the city maze, and he spent the time thinking about the Red Hood, berating himself for not looking into him when he had heard about him the first time. Their lack of knowledge could prove fatal.

A sudden noise of broken glass snapped him out of his thoughts and the vigilante looked at the building in front of them. It was a rundown apartment, dirty and old, and Batman quickly detected the source of the noise. A window in the third floor has been broken, and the vigilante narrowed his eyes, looking for glass shards in the ground under it. There were none.

It had been broken from the outside.

Then fight noises erupted from the apartment, and a gunshot went off. In a quick motion, Batman recalculated his trajectory and headed towards the building, quickly followed by Batgirl and Robin.

“That’s Pete’s house!” he heard the boy say.

Batman frowned, because that probably meant they were not the firsts who had though to ask Pete some questions.

The group made their entrance through the broken window, and the oldest vigilante scanned the room, looking for the informant. He found him crumpled on the ground trembling and shrieking as a man pointed a gun at him and took aim. The red helmet and leather jacket were unmistakable.

“No!” shouted Batman, jumping to block the Red Hood from shooting. The hired assassin spun on his heels, and faster than Batman had foreseen, feinted out of his way, landing several feet away from him.

Batgirl and Robin soon were helping Pete on his feet. The man seemed to be terrified and sported several cuts in his arms and face, but otherwise was unharmed. _Thank God for small favors_ , thought Batman.

The sound of a tongue clicking in disgust made Batman turn around. The Red Hood was massaging his neck with one hand, the other still holding on his gun.

“So, the big bad Bat has come all the way from Gotham, huh?” he drawled, voice distorted by the helmet, making its recognition impossible.

“Red Hood” started Batman raising to his full weight and shifting his stance menacingly. “Why did you attack this man?”

The hired gun cocked his head to one side. “Tsk tsk, those are some nasty manners you have there, boss. What is this, asking a guy about something that’s not your business?” he said, voice scornful even under the helmet.

“What is your relation with Dick Grayson?!” asked Batgirl, aggressively standing besides Batman.

The Red Hood snorted, putting the gun back into an empty holster in his thigh and raising his hands as if in surrender. His tone was amused, though, as he answered. “Nothing but strictly business, sugar. I am very much available if you wanna have some fun after dark” he said, swaying his hips in an obvious innuendo that had Batgirl shaking from pure rage. Batman stopped her before she jumped the man, since a fight would not solve anything right now.

“What have you done with the boy, Red Hood?” asked Batman, voice menacingly low.

The helmet turned towards the vigilante, and Batman was unnerved at the blank expression. He was uneasy at not being able to read his expression.

“Nothing my client didn’t want me to. Difficult thing to do, actually, that guy is one tough fucker” he said, mocking. “But I guess you already knew, didn’t you? After all, it’s Nightwing we’re talking about here” he finished, a vicious tone that was undoubtedly deliberated. Batgirl and Robin choked out similar cries of surprise and anguish, but Batman managed to hold his own down, even though his heart was beating faster than ever and a cold sweat was starting to damp his body.

“Aww, no, man, don’t make that face!” said the Red hood, cheerfully. “I’m not going to spread it, really. Wouldn’t want Dickie-bird to feel bad” he cackled.

Batman was trembling with contained aggression. “Who is your client?” he gritted out.

Red Hood went still, hands crossed at his back, and he started too chuckle darkly.

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know?” he said, just before throwing a flash grenade to the vigilantes. Batman groaned, taken by surprise, and tried to locate the Red Hood. When his eyes started working again, there was no trace left of the hired assassin. He was gone.

The older vigilante stood there, a grim expression plastered in his face, and slowly turned to his partners. “Is everybody alright?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah, I think so” mumbled Robin, rubbing his eyes.

Batgirl was helping Pete stand, since it seemed his knees refused to cooperate, instead choosing to turn into jelly. The dark knight approached the snitch and growled.

“I think we need to talk, Pete”.


	5. Client

_While it was true that Dick had vowed to never take up Robin’s identity again, he had never said anything about stopping being a vigilante altogether. He just needed time to find his own way._

_That’s why he was now in Pigalle, in a dim lit street, following a man that had one of the working girls against the wall. The man was obviously drunk, and ignored her protests when she tried to make him go away. It was pitiful that these women had to deal with such lowlifes._

_The discussion grew angrier and louder, and Dick prepared himself to intervene, looking for the right angle to knock the attacker out. Then, he saw a shadow move from behind the arguing couple and quick movement, and the man collapsed to the ground when a fist collided with his jaw._

_The woman startled, as did Dick. Then she thanked her unidentified savior and ran away. For a couple of seconds, the former Robin just stood there, without knowing how to react, until he saw a glint of light and jumped purely on instinct. The newcomer had pulled a gun and was pointing it to the drunken man on the ground._

_He barely managed to knock out the weapon out of the hand of the man with a quick kick to his wrist. The man hissed and let the gun fall to the ground, massaging his wrist and backing away from Dick. His face was obscured by a big hood, but by the look of it, it was a young man._

_“Sorry, mister, but I can’t let you kill this man” said Dick, before remembering to speak in French._

_To his surprise, the other man sneered and answered in English. “He’s scum, you fucker. He was going to rape her” he said, kicking the man in the ground. Dick growled a warning, but something felt wrong. That voice was somehow familiar, somehow…_

_“That’s no excuse to… Who the hell are…?” he started, trying to discern who in the world was that man. Then it came to him, his stance, the body type, the voice. “Jason?” he muttered, suddenly afraid of hearing that well known voice._

_Then he saw the man freeze, and take off the hood. Jason was staring at his with the same dumbfounded expression he was surely making._

_“Dick?” asked the boy, and damn it all, but it hurt more than it should to have proof that it was indeed Jason. Jason, a foolish mutt that had wormed his way into his heart, making it his home and refusing to let go._

_Jason, who had been just seconds ago to kill a man in cold blooded murder._

_“Why are you here?” asked the younger man, calmly, still rubbing his hand._

_Dick wasn’t near as calm; he was actually bordering on the nervous breakdown. “What about you?! You were…! You tried to kill that man!”_

_Jason sighed, and made a resigned face. “As I said, he’s a fucking rapist. He doesn’t deserve anything less” he said, slowly, as if he was explaining something to a child._

_That made Dick furious. He pushed down the fear and confronted Jason._

_“You’re not a judge, Jay! You can’t go killing just because you think someone deserves it!” he hissed pointing his finger towards the other man._

_Jason frowned, obviously annoyed. “Then what about you? What were you doing following this guy?” he asked back._

_“I was planning on putting him down, leave it to the police to press charges against him” answered Dick._

_Jason clicked his tongue in obvious disgust, making the older man even madder, and shook his head. “That’s fucking naïve and useless, Dick. He’ll do it again. The only thing that works against these degenerates is a bullet to their heads” he concluded._

_The last sentence felt like a hard slap and Dick was left speechless for a moment. The knowledge that the man he had fallen for was willing to murder just to change what he didn’t like… “God, Jason. You can’t be serious” he whispered, voice cracking._

_He hated this. He hated that Jason had managed to reach so deep inside him that he was heartbroken at realizing the boy he knew didn’t exist._

_Jason snarled, losing the cold façade and showing such a pained expression in his face that Dick startled._

_“Don’t look at me like that!” yelled the younger man, opening his arms. “Why do you care so much anyway?!”_

_Dick shook his head. “Somebody taught me to never step their level. To never lose my head in rage and useless violence” he said, hoping it was enough._

_It wasn’t._

_Jason frowned deeply, as if he was trying to decipher who Dick was talking about. And then, realization crossed Jason’s eyes, and threw the older man a horrified look._

_“You’re Dick Grayson” he said, and his voice sounded so wrecked the older man felt a pang of worry in his chest._

_But there was something there, something dark and dangerous in Jason’s words. He had never told him, or the Master, what his family name was. How had Jason known?_

_“You’re Dick Grayson?!”_

_“Yes” he said, carefully, worried about Jason’s change of attitude._

_The younger boy hissed and carded his hands through his hair, wearing a completely wrecked expression. “Oh. OH. Fuck. You… Fuck!” he said, not looking at Dick. The older man approached his lover slowly._

_“Jay…?” mumbled Dick, reaching for Jason._

_The younger man viciously batted him away, and threw him a nasty glare. “You’re Robin?!” he snarled, voice equally confused and enraged._

_Dick felt his blood freeze._

_“W… What?” he stuttered._

No way, no way, no way _, he thought, panic swelling inside of him. How does he know? How can he know?_

_Jason didn’t notice his surprise, or just didn’t care. He continued staring at Dick, eyes bright and furious. “You’re Robin! You’re… You’re Batman’s partner!” he spat, his fists turning white from having them closed at his sides._

_Dick was still having trouble digesting the fact that Jason knew he was… had been… Robin. “How…?”_

_“Fucking hell, I’m… I’m such a fucking idiot. I should have realized” growled Jason, tearing his eyes from Dick._

_The older man just stared at the other, a puzzle he couldn’t solve, a mystery that left no clued for him to solve. “Who in the world are you, Jason?” he whispered, afraid of what he could hear._

_Jason didn’t look at him. Instead, he grabbed his hoodie with nervous hands and started to twist it in his hands. “I should have been careful. He told me you two were dangerous, that you liked to play saints and try to prevent the real efforts to save the people” he muttered, voice tense and hostile. Then he finally looked at him, and Dick wished he hadn’t._

_Jason’s eyes were full of resentment and bitterness, and his mouth was twisted into a cruel smile. “It’s fucking funny, you know? First your boss almost got Talia on his side, and now you come and fucking try to… to me” he barked, laughing dryly. “Fucking hilarious”._

_It all came to him, all the pieces, all the clues. Dick closed his eyes, trying not to accept it, but it was impossible to avoid the matter._

_“Ra’s Al Ghul” he said, voice calmer than he thought possible given the circumstances. “You… Jason, God, please tell me you’re not…” he said, still hoping for a different ending, for a miracle to happen._

_“I’m a member of the League of Assassins” came the heartless reply. “And you’re Dick Grayson, Batman’s little fucktoy. Well, listen good, you fucking hypocrite. I hate you. I hate Batman because he screwed my life, but I hate you more than anything, because you are the fucking image of a brainwashed kid who lent his little ass to a psycho in exchange for a warm bed and food and a pat in the head!”_

_Dick was frozen for what seemed like years. The words felt like poison, spreading slowly through his body and making him sicker by the second. Then came the rage, the need to defend the man who had given him a home when he lost his, that had taught him and loved him. A vicious and sickening feeling bubbled up from his gut, and the vigilante snarled and punched Jason in the jaw. The surprise attack was too quick for the boy to avoid, and he fell on his ass from the force of the blow. When he looked up again, seething, his lower lip was bleeding and starting to swell. Dick didn’t care anymore._

_He wanted Jason to feel at least some of the pain that was crushing his chest._

_“Fuck you” he whispered, throat raw and itchy. “Fuck you, Jason! I believed…!” he tried again, and shook his head. “I was so fucking blind. I thought you were good, just rough in the edges, but… You’re a killer, you’d rather follow the ramblings of a madman than to fight for the right cause. I can’t go on with this” he said._

_Jason got on his feet again and grabbed him by the shirt. “Our cause is just! The criminals that flood the streets will be eliminated!” he snarled in Dick’s face._

_“And who will decide who is, and what makes a criminal?” yelled Dick, pushing Jason away. “Ra’s Al Ghul? He’ll kill anyone that won’t obey him, Jason. Not only who you think are criminals” he said. Jason twitched, and Dick felt a dark satisfaction at making the other doubt._

_“He… He saved me! He taught me how to fight, how to be strong! I owe him… I owe him my loyalty” said Jason, but he was starting to falter. “You and Batman are the same!”_

_Dick’s voice grew hotter as he pointed his finger to Jason’s chest. “He taught you how to kill. He taught you to take the life of another person and feel nothing. Batman taught me to show mercy to everyone. He taught me how to protect the people I love”._

_Jason stared, unsettlingly silent, eyes open and body curled up in an instinctive defense stance. Like that, he seemed much more younger. Nothing more than a kid. Suddenly it became very difficult to remain angry._

_“I’m traveling to be stronger, to find my own path. I still want to protect the people who is important to me. You…” continued Dick, but he was quickly losing drive. He didn’t want to fight anymore. The rage had finally subsided, and now only the feelings of betrayal and loss remained. “No. I can’t do this anymore” he whispered, defeated and tired. He shook his head and turned his back on Jason, walking away from the alley and from the man he was in love with._

_He heard Jason screaming for him, voice seemingly broken and pained, and the former vigilante marveled at how much of a good actor Jason was, feigning the betrayal and the pain dripping on his voice._

_As if there had been anything but plain manipulation on his part, as if Jason was feeling exactly what Dick was, as if his chest had been ripped open and left an infected wound._

 

* * *

 

After the Red Hood attack, the vigilantes had relocated Pete to one of the safe houses Nightwing had spread through Blüdhaven. The apartment was discreet enough and was actually better than the run down building Pete lived in.

It had been a very long night for everyone. Now a new day had started, and Batman could only imagine that pure adrenaline and worry were keeping Robin and Batgirl awake. The informant had calmed down a bit since they had rescued him, but his hands still trembled and his eyes studied his surroundings with the same nervousness as a cornered prey. Completely understandable, in Batman’s opinion. In other circumstances, he would have let Pete alone, let him calm down completely, but time was running out. They needed to find where Dick was being held.

“Did he say what he wanted?” asked finally Batman, breaking the uneasy silence that had taken a hold on everyone in the room.

Pete blinked, as if he had been lost in thought, and bit his thumb nervously.

“Shut me up, that’s what” he mumbled. “He just crashed into the fucking window, ya know? And I suddenly have this fucker pointin’ his gun at me face and sayin’ that I’ve said too much and that he ain’t a guy who likes having the cops or the Bat biting his ass”

Batman nodded.

“Did he say something else? Something that could pinpoint where Dick Grayson is?”

“Uh, sorry, I was kinda busy shitting my pants at having bloody Red Hood in me house” Pete shot him a nasty look and snorted. Batman noticed Batgirl rolling her eyes, and the older man supposed that meant the man was himself once again.

“Did you know that Dick Grayson was Nightwing?” asked the vigilante carefully.

“You mental, man? Do I look like I had a friggin’ idea the cop was a vigilante?” he barked, indignant. Then he suddenly stopped and stared at Batman, hard. “That’s why you were looking for ‘im. You lost Nightwing and freaked out, yeah?” he said.

Batman shifted uncomfortably and groaned menacingly. “I’m going to ask you to keep it confidential”.

Pete just raised his hands in surrender, and shook his head.

“Eh, no worries there, Batman. I’m a snitcher, remember? I know how ta keep the secrets around ‘ere. Just ask missus Captain” he said. “And I owe you me life, man. Not gonna bust your secret.”

Batman nodded, grateful, but his jaw was set in a tense line. It seemed there was nothing Pete could tell them that they didn’t know already. Dick had been captured by the Red Hood, and it was unclear what the fate of the young man had been.

Then suddenly Batman remembered that they had in fact a new lead. The Red Hood said he had a client. He could go from there.

“Pete, the Red Hood said he had a client?” said Batman. “Do you have an idea of who it may be?”

“Client you say… There could be anyone out there.”

“Are his prices high?”

“Uh. Yeah, yeah, now that you ask. He’s gotta have some fancy savings”.

“Anyone that could have paid such a sum?”

“Lemme think…” muttered the man, scratching his neck and thinking. “Well, there’s somethin’… Dunno if it is coincidence or whatnot…”

“Tell us” growled Batman.

“Okay, well. I told the kids there the Hood was trying to enter the drug business, yeah? Thing is some days ago I heard the rumor that several drug bosses were in the dumps now. Someone took their money and all their drugs, they say.”

“Do you think it was the Red Hood?”

“Naw, not him, if he was after your birdie-boy. But now you got me thinkin’, what if his boss man gave him the papers on the drug business? I mean, somethin’ like a gift with lotsa millions in that shit. Mebbe you could find who bought it and find the boss”

Batman stared at the snitcher, impressed. Batgirl hummed appreciatively and Robin whistled, both of the equally amazed.

“That was some good thinking, Pete” commented the girl, smiling at the blond man.

The man shrugged, smug smile twitching in his lips. “One has to, sis, when he lives in this city.”

 

Batman left Pete in the safe house, Batgirl and Robin keeping watch on him in case the Red Hood got wind of their location. The kids wouldn’t be able to stop him, but they should be able to, at least, plant a tracker on the hired gun.

Meanwhile, Batman paid a visit to one of the Blüdhaven crime bosses, one that, according to Pete had taken a big blow with the drug business. Blockbuster was infamous even in Gotham city, and the Dark Knight had even offered Nightwing assistance with the man. But Dick had just brushed him off, telling him he had it under control and that Blockbuster wouldn’t be a problem for him.

When Batman entered that morning in his mansion, he understood why. Even if years ago Roland Desmond ad been an intimidating figure, huge frame and cruel features, now he was just a poor devil with weakened heart, bedridden and attached to a heart rate monitor. His breathing was difficult, and the vigilante felt a wave of compassion for the big man, even if he was a criminal.

He was actually debating whether or not talking to him, in case his heart were to give out, when the huge man groaned.

“I know you’re there, you fucking creep” he spat, bitterly. “Have you come to gloat, Nightwing?”

“Sorry, Desmond, but I’m not Nightwing” said Batman.

He heard Roland wheeze painfully, and then cough wetly, and a copper smell filled the room.

“Who… the fuck are…” growled the sick man.

“I’m Batman, Mr. Roland” answered the vigilante, getting in sight of the crime boss.

“The oldest, then? You fucks only know how to pick on me?” growled Roland.

“Don’t put yourself as a victim, Blockbuster. And I’m not here for you today” said Batman. “I need information”.

“I don’t have anything to say to you”.

“I think you do, and I don’t care if you give me the name I need willingly or if I need to make myself… clearer”

“And what will you do? Torture me until my heart gives out? You try, psycho”.

“I don’t need to torture you. How would you like to have all your bank accounts cleared?” growled Batman “I believe that after your recent loss of business, it wouldn’t sit well”.

“You wouldn’t dare…”

“ _You try_ ” interrupted Batman, not up for senseless fights.

There was a moment of silence, until Blockbuster coughed again, and groaned. “What do you want?”

“The name of the one that bought the drugs”

Blockbuster stared at him, suspiciously. But the fight had left him, and just sighed.

“I don’t know why the hell you’d want that, unless you already had a suspicion. But it doesn’t seem to be the case… Whatever” Desmond coughed again, and pointed to something on the night table. “There’s a file in there. The buyer hid his name, but I made my men investigate him” he commented, as Batman reached for the papers and opened them. “I wanted to crush him, but… well, you must know he’s not a man to joke with. The only thing I’d like to know is why the hell would he buy Blüdhaven’s drug deals”.

Batman stared at the papers, horrified. “It can’t be. It can’t be him”.

“Yeah, right” sneered Blockbuster, only to cough blood again. “I didn’t expect the Demon’s Head to be interested in my drugs, either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Jason, you and your cruel mouth...


	6. A week ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far! We're mid-story now, so hang on tight!

_Dick had his few possessions packed and ready to go in record time. After discovering Jason’s relationship with Ra’s Al Ghul, the former Robin didn’t want to spend a second more than necessary near him. He was starting to think it was time to move on, anyway, so it was really good timing…_

_“You’re running away” came a deep feminine voice from behind him._

_Dick spun around, taken by surprise, and found himself facing his savate teacher. Madam Anjou was a strong woman, dark hair trimmed short to prevent it from getting in her way. Her dark eyes were always watchful, and sometimes it seemed she had a sixth sense for knowing things that happened without her around._

_“I’m not running away, master” said Dick, stubbornly not meeting her gaze._

_She snorted, not believing him for a second. Well, it was worth the try._

_“Something happened” he said, not up for giving details. “I can’t stay here. I also need to continue with my training…”_

_“What has happened with Jason?” she asked, and there it was. Sixth sense._

_Dick groaned. It stung just thinking about it._

_“He’s not what I thought. I can’t… I can’t be with him and pretend I don’t care” he confessed bitterly._

_She observed him for a moment and the sighed. He returned to packing his things, until her voice broke the silence again._

_“Do you know why I took you boys as my students?” she asked._

_“You liked our skills…?” he proposed._

_“Wrong. You were already a master in many disciplines. You didn’t need the savate” she said, a somehow sad smile tugging her lips._

_“I took you, Dick Grayson, because I saw a boy that had grown up too quickly, that wanted to do too much and too soon. You needed to let your mind and body grow enough to make use of your them as you wanted” she said, her accent thick and musical._

_Dick just stared at her, helpless, listening to something he didn’t even want to think about._

_“I took Jason because he had the eyes of a man who has seen far too much pain and death. He had talent, oh yes, a natural born ability for war and conflict that I had not seen in many years” she continued, then frowned. “I… confess that I took him in hopes of reaching to him, make him come back from whatever darkness had a hold on his heart, but I failed. I thought it was a lost cause, a deadly weapon in wrong hands, or a stray dog ready to attack anyone who comes too close”._

_Dick shivered. He really didn’t want to hear it. It was too painful to even think about Jason._

_“But you did what I could not, Dick, you reached to him and made him open his eyes” she concluded, surprising him. He shook his head, whishing it were true._

_“He’s still an assassin, master. He hasn’t come back from the darkness” he said._

_“No one but himself can walk that path. You shattered the walls that prevented him from escaping, but he must have the will to leave the darkness” she answered, eyes strong and focused._

_Dick thought of Bruce, of the pain and regret he carried every second of his life. “The darkness never will go away” he whispered._

_She only touched his shoulder, gently, and her eyes were warm and kind. Understanding. “No. Not now, not in the future. It’s a scar that he will carry forever. But I have faith, Dick Grayson. I took a man dead inside and now he’s a boy, angry at the world, but alive. You created a spark of life inside of him, trust Jason to make a fire out of it” she said, smiling gently._

_Dick didn’t answer, and only nodded. He could try to fool her, but the reassuring squeeze on his shoulder told him he had failed miserably, as always. Even if he didn’t say anything, she knew that he wanted to trust Jason, that he wanted to believe he could pull through and become a better man._

_Jason was outside the house, slightly away from it. Dick saw him in a heartbeat –his eyes never stopped looking for that broad back, or that unruly black hair, or those smug eyes. But he was far enough from his bike that, if Dick wished so, he wouldn’t have to bid him farewell. He could just start the engine, put his helmet on and forget about Jason forever._

_The idea of it was terrifying and much harder than to live with the hurt._

_So Dick did the only thing he could think of. He turned towards Jason, and waited for a few seconds for the younger man to look at him. Jason kept his eyes down and didn’t turn to him._

_It hurt, knowing that everything had ended. That the weeks they spent making love could be gone in such a cruel way. Because even after everything, Dick still loved Jason. Still wanted to be with him, to fight and to laugh._

_But Jason would return to Ra’s Al Ghul, the same way Dick knew he’d return to Gotham._

_He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, and raised his voice, letting Jason hear him._

_“Goodbye, Jason” he said. There should be nothing else, now. But he had always been a chatterbox, damn it, and couldn’t leave this matter be._

_“This will probably just make you laugh at me, but… If you ever leave the League, come to Gotham” he said, surprising even himself. He felt the lump on his throat get bigger, and he tried not to let it affect his voice. “You see, I… had a really good time with you these past few weeks. I really loved fighting you, arguing about silly things or laughing at each other when our asses met the dirt”._

_Jason was still silent, and Dick sighed and looked away. He wouldn’t get an answer from him._

_“It wasn’t a mistake for me” he said, voice weak. He wasn’t even sure Jason could hear him anymore, but it didn’t matter. “Even if for you it was, I really came to love you” he said, jumping on the bike and starting it. A sad smile tugged at his lips._

_“Goodbye, mutt. I love you” he said, taking off and not looking back._

_In the reflection of the mirror, he saw that Jason had finally looked up, watching him go with slumped shoulders, like a dejected dog whose master had abandoned him for good._

 

* * *

 

The hotel where Ra’s Al Ghul was staying was one of the few one that, by sheer power of the money, was actually safe from attacks and robberies in Blüdhaven. Batman had lost no time in searching for him, using every mean on his power to locate that man. As it turned out, the Demon’s Head had registered in the hotel under a false name, and it had taken Batman all day to track him. By the time he finally took off towards his enemy, he was a nervous wreck.

Batman knew, grimly, that Ra’s Al Ghul was expecting him to pay a visit. Well, he wasn’t one to disappoint.

Bruce had had to forbid the kids to follow him the moment he called them to inform about his findings. Looking back, Batman realized he should have left them in the dark, finish everything by himself and only then, talk with Robin and Batgirl. But since this was Nightwing who was in danger, the Dark Knight hadn’t had the heart to keep the kids out.

Ra’s Al Ghul was staying in a suit in the top floor of the hotel, one of the biggest rooms the building had, and Batman didn’t waste a second in entering through the big windows and searching for his old enemy.

Just as he suspected, the Demon’s Head was sitting comfortably in a luxury coach, a glass in his hand and a small suitcase in his lap. He was smiling pleasantly, but Batman knew better than to believe Ra’s was anything but alert.

“Ah, detective. I was wondering when you’d pay me a visit” said the older man, rising his glass and taking a sip. “I must say, you’re earlier than I expected. My congratulations, it seems your skills are as sharp as ever”.

“Ra’s” growled Batman, because he didn’t have time for pleasantries. He was in front of the man who had taken Dick from them. He would not let him escape easily. “I think we can skip useless chatter”.

The other man raised an eyebrow, but his smile grew wider and nastier. Batman felt a chill run down his spine, but controlled himself.

“Ah, yes. As direct as ever” chuckled the Demon’s Head. “Shall we talk about Richard, then?”

“What have you done with him, you monster?”

“I did not touch your ward. That was the Red Hood’s work.”

“Why would you do this? To get me?”

“Nothing of the sort, detective. If I wanted you I’d confront you myself. No, this time it was Richard the one I was looking for.”

“Why? What did he do to you? And why hiring the Red Hood?”

“I needed discretion. If I started looking for him on my own, there was a chance I could fail. That’s why I needed the Red Hood to act as my eyes and hands in this matter” said Ra’s Al Ghul, caressing the suitcase absentmindedly. “And as for what he did… He took something of mine. I had taken great pain in obtaining such a rare gem, but your boy came two years ago and took it from me”

Batman was left speechless for a second. A jewel Dick had stolen? He shook his head; the motives were not the first item in his list.

“Where is Dick?” he asked, anger barely controlled.

Then Batman’s blood ran cold when he saw the cruel smile tugging the older man’s lips. Ra’s Al Ghul rose from the coach, leaving the empty glass on the table and opening the suitcase with slow movements.

Bruce’s mind started to go through hundreds of scenarios, and tensed his body, ready for a fight. But when his old foe showed him the contents of the suitcase, the world crashed.

“I believe this was Richard’s” said the Demon’s Head, showing Nightwing’s bloodied suit, torn to shreds and with distinctive bullet holes near the chest.

“No!” roared Batman, hiding his terror under a mask of rage. “You wouldn’t…!”

“I must say, he was very well trained, detective. He was able to endure for a week under torture, and even in the end he wouldn’t talk”.

“What…? No… Today was… it should be… the fourth day…”

“Oh, detective” said the Demon’s Head, fake pity in his voice. “Didn’t you know he was on his day off when he was abducted? You may have been notified when his superiors in the police noticed he was missing, but Red Hood captured him an exact week ago” said Ra’s Al Ghul, smiling crookedly.

Bruce paled at the information. Dick had disappeared a week ago. A week. Seven days where he had been tortured for information, alone and without anyone looking for him. Dick had… God, but Batman couldn’t even think about it.

He knew he had lost when he heard Ra’s Al ghul approaching him. He was still smiling, and he put a hand on Batman’s shoulder.

“Believe me, detective, when I say that I did not wish for the boy’s death. He was your heir, and extremely well trained. But he stole from me, and he had to pay” said the older man, coldly. “Even at the end, he didn’t say anything. He was a formidable man, worthy of my respect.”

Batman was frozen, unable to say or do anything. So Ra’s Al Ghul just continued his terrible speech.

“I’m really sorry it had to come to this, but three hours ago his mind shattered. His body had been broken beyond repair, and I told the Red Hood to save him from any further pain. It was quick and painless, I assure you, detective”.

Dick was dead. _Dick was dead._

Ra’s Al Ghul continued, noticing the desperation written in his face. “I will let you mourn in peace, Batman. I don’t have any more business with you, and as a show of respect, I won’t act against you today” he said, voice completely sincere, and Batman felt his gut twist and the urge to vomit.

“My condolences, detective” said Ra’s Al Ghul, and Batman crumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!
> 
> On another note, I'm going on a trip tomorrow. So, I'm sorry but no updates until Sunday I guess...


	7. Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Now that was a nice trip~~
> 
> Anyway, here comes the next chapter, and I want to thank everybody reading and commenting and leaving kudos. It really makes my day <3

_Jason groaned as he curled up tighter and cradled his twisted wrist. His head hurt from the beating he had gotten and several days of barely eating. He licked his lips, tasting blood, and cringed when his tongue felt a tooth moving._

_He sighed, tired of everything, and looked up from the dark alley he had chosen to lick his wounds. Looking back, it had been nuts to start a fight in that creepy bar, but he had needed to release all his pent up frustrations, rage and confusion. He had won, of course, but he had been fucking sore after the fight, and the friends of the people he battered in the bar had found little resistance from him when they went to avenge his buddies._

_They had left Jason without a penny on his name, wrecked and completely lost in the dark streets of Blüdhaven. He had thought Gotham was terrible, but the sister was even worse. Not that it mattered anymore._

_Nothing mattered anymore._

_Looking at the grey sky, Jason remembered the events that had lead him to return to his place of birth. A flickering memory crossed his mind, and for once, he let himself dwell in it, remember the details of a handsome face smiling at him, of a warm body pressed against him and soothing words whispered in bed._

_It had been a long time since he let himself remember Dick Grayson. Two years had passed since they had met, two years since discovering the man he had fallen in love with was Batman’s sidekick. The partner of the man he most hated in the world._

_It was two years since he had started to change._

_After meeting Dick, and after feeling the raw pain of his betrayal, Jason had returned to the League of Assassins, devoting himself to training and to the missions. He was sure that if he focused in them enough, he’d be able to forget about Dick._

_It had been so cruel to discover that he had fallen in love with Robin, the same way Talia had fallen for Batman. Jason saw her sometimes, eyes gazing at a distance, lonely and at the same time angry. She was torn between two men, but in the end she had sacrificed her love for her father’s dream. So he intended to do just the same._

_In a way, he actually succeeded. He buried his memories of Dick, of his feelings, deep inside of him, until nothing was left._

_But soon he started to doubt himself. Each new mission seemed more and more difficult to complete; each new target, more difficult to kill. At first he thought nothing about it. He’d never cared anything of the people he killed. Until he kind of did._

_He had started to look into their backgrounds, investigated what crimes they had committed, at first just out of curiosity, because heck, he had been doing the job for quite some time and he wanted to know who he was freeing the world from. But he didn’t like what he found. There were some criminals, of course. There was sometimes a rapist or a murderer, and Jason never regretted pulling the trigger with those kinds of scum. But then came the business men that had somehow angered Ra’s Al Ghul. Men and women whose job had put them in danger, just by being attorneys, cops or even journalists._

_It made Jason sick, that his need for justice had been used and twisted for the Demon’s Head own ends. How many times had he murdered an innocent, blindly following Ra’s Al Ghul’s orders as if they were Law? How many families had been broken because he couldn’t be bothered to read a fucking paper, to ask just a single question?_

_How many children left parentless, just like him?_

_When he came to this realization, he abandoned the League, abandoned the man that had given him a purpose in life, and returned to Gotham. He didn’t know why he had chosen that cursed city, why return to a place that had nothing but awful memories for him._

_He spent long days searching for something to do, something that would give him purpose again. Then he found out the Joker was alive, and everything was turned upside down. The revenge he had wanted for all his life was now at his reach. He would be able to make that damned clown for what he did with her mother. Because from every man that deserved to die, there was no one who deserved it more than the Joker._

_He became the Red Hood, a mockery, a joke, the irony delicious for him. He’d kill that bastard impersonating his original alter ego. He hunted down Joker like a hound, and finally cornered him. The clown never knew what had attacked him until he was beaten and lying on the dusty floor of an abandoned building with Jason’s gun pointing at his head._

_It should have been so easy to pull the trigger, to blow up his brains and be done with it. The city would be safer without him around. But just as he was ready to press the trigger, the clown laughed hysterically._

_“Hey, you copycat, aint’cha a nice little creep? Just like me, actually! I kind of like you even you’ve been so rude to beat me up” cackled the madman. “I know! I hereby declare you my heir! You shall follow my path and be Batsy’s worst nightmare, and make everybody a laughing mass of corpses!”_

_He grabbed the gun even harder, knuckles going white._

_“I’m not going to become like you, fucking psycho!” he snarled. “When I blow your head I’ll…”_

_“Oh, but you ARE like me already” screeched the Joker, eyes wide and mouth contorted into a terrible smile. “You just blew Arkham open just to beat me and kill me, ya know? How many of my loooovely inmates do you think escaped thanks to that?”_

_Jason’s blood had frozen at that. No. He hadn’t thought…_

_“You’re brilliant, copycat! Just brilliant! You’ll probably create more problems for the Bats in just one night than me in months of long planning!” laughed the clown._

_So many lives would be endangered because of him. Because he wouldn’t give up the chance to kill the Joker, he couldn’t do anything else than kill._

_“Never again” he whispered._

_“Come again?”_

_With a pained scream, Jason shot the Joker in the shoulder and brought him back to Arkham, the hysterical laugh of that monster reaching his core as the madman called him chicken._

_Jason vowed to never kill again that same night as he fled Arkham, trying to get away from Joker’s laugh. After that, he didn’t know what to do anymore. He fled from Gotham, haunted by the regret and desperation, that sinister jeering sound still playing in his head, tormenting him in his nightmares and even during the day, and ended in Blüdhaven._

_Now, beaten and starved, without the Jason didn’t have any strength left to avoid remembering about Dick, who had made him forget about everything for a few weeks. About the League and the mission, about Batman and Joker. Who had fought with him, laughed with him. He told Jason he loved him._

_Dick, who had told Jason he didn’t think their weeks were a mistake, who promised he wouldn’t forget. Dick, who offered him to go back with him to Gotham if he wanted to redeem himself._

_A cruel joke that was. He laughed bitterly, because in the end he had returned to Gotham, only to try and kill again. Dick had trusted him to become better, and he had failed._

_He had failed himself. He was a killer that wouldn’t kill anymore. After all those years, he was still that little kid that cried himself raw in the cold streets of Gotham as he was beaten for stealing from the tougher kids._

_Jason wondered what Dick would be doing now. Would he still be in Gotham? He had heard that there was a new vigilante called Nightwing. Maybe it was him._

_The beaten man coughed, his vision growing darker by moments. He didn’t fight the darkness. He was tired, so tired, he wanted to sleep for weeks._

_Before drifting into unconsciousness, he heard a police siren, and a car parking near him. He was irritated, what did a guy have to do to lose consciousness on peace? A male voice came from the vehicle, terrified and frantic, and that confused Jason. A good cop in this rotten city? Then he felt someone holding him up, and now he was sure his brain had finally given up on him, because the hands of the cop felt really gentle and familiar, and that terrified voice of the officer that was frantically trying to lift him from the pavement reminded him of Dick._

 

* * *

 

 

Batman didn’t remember how he returned to the safe house after his confrontation with Ra’s Al Ghul. He felt empty, the shock still so big he wasn’t able to even react to the news. His brain refused to acknowledge the news, and his body moved on his own, purely relying on instinct to return where the kids where waiting.

It wasn’t until Batgirl called him, worried sick, that Batman had to come back to the real world, to face the fact that Dick was dead.

The thought of it was terrible, and the vigilante managed to suppress the pained sob that had been seconds from escaping him. He straightened himself up, turning his back to Batgirl and Robin. He frantically searched for anything that would distract him for merciful seconds, to let the kids in the dark a little while.

“Where’s Pete?” he asked, voice much more detached and cold that he had thought possible given his state. Thank God he had been so strict with his training.

“He’s sleeping in the bedroom” said Batgirl, slowly, trying to figure out Batman’s intentions with the obvious smoke curtain. “He was tired, after everything that’s happened”.

Batman mumbled something, but there was nothing to keep him from telling them the truth anymore. For a second, he actually entertained the idea of lying to them, just to save them from the pain just for a couple of merciful hours. But he quickly rejected the idea, because this was Dick he was talking about, and owed it to him to tell the others the truth. That Dick had…

God, he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t break the news to them like this. He had to reign himself, he had to keep his head level he had to…

“Batman?” he heard Robin, voice soft and doubtful. “Is… Is Dick okay?”

“He’s dead” he blurted, monotone and detached.

It was terrible, to hear himself talk as if he didn’t care, as if he was just depicting another crime, just another poor devil caught in the madness of some sociopath. For a few moments, no one said anything. The silence was heavy and painful, and Batman tried not to shudder.

Then he heard the noise of a body falling to the ground, and the unmistakable sounds of distressed sobbing. Batgirl was trying to articulate words between cries, but seemed unable to make anything more than a litany of _no, no, no, impossible_.

“That… that can be…” whispered Robin, so weakly it was barely audible.

Batman felt cold inside, as if something had been ripped from him. “Ra’s Al Ghul showed me his suit. It was bloody and torn, showing certain signs of having withstood prolonged torture” he said, emotionless voice cutting him like a knife. Batgirl was now fully crying, and Robin was sniffing too, and Batman loathed himself for mercilessly tearing the wound so deep. “We made a mistake. We thought he had disappeared four days ago, but he was captured a week ago. He couldn’t stand the torture and…”

“No! You’re lying! You’re lying!” screamed Batgirl, suddenly.

“I’m not lying” said Batman, voice tight.

“Then Ra’s Al Ghul is! Batman!” she pleaded, but he still wouldn’t turn. “Why aren’t you affected?! Why do you talk like there’s no hope?! Like you didn’t care about Dick!” she asked, chocking back her cries. He suddenly felt a hand on his arm, forcing him to turn around, and was faced with Barbara’s tears, running down her face and hooding her bright eyes.

“Look at me, damn you!” she snarled, ferocious in her pain, and Batman turned to her.

She suddenly went pale, and the fight seemed to leave her. “Oh my God” she croaked. “Batman” she said, touching his cheek. “Bruce” she said again, and the older man felt something moist in his face, something that he hadn’t noticed before. Tears.

He was crying.

Realization hit him like a truck, and everything came crashing down on him. He covered his mouth, trying to contain the treacherous gasps, but it was too late. He hit the floor with his knees, bending over and fighting the full body spasms he was suffering. He felt Batgirl circling his shoulders with her arms, hugging him awkwardly due to his size, and he clutched her like a lifeline. A smaller body, Robin, grabbed him by the side, curling up and hiding his face in his cape while he cried.

 

They stood like that for what had seemed mere seconds, but Batman discovered had been almost 20 minutes. It was late afternoon now, he was exhausted and just wanted to close himself in the Cave and never leave. In the end, it was him who disentangled himself, gently pushing Batgirl and Robin away and slowly rising to his feet. The tears had dried, and his face felt now coarse and stretched, as if it were made from paper.

Barbara was the first to break the heavy silence that had settled in the room.

“What… What are we going to do now?” she said, voice coarse from crying.

Batman forced himself to think about it. What could be done now?

As soon as the question crossed his mind, he found the answer, clear as the day. If this was about Dick, there was only one thing to do. Not seeking vengeance, full of hate and rage.

Dick deserved justice, closure to the case. Brought to the courts and rightfully processed.

“Now we catch the Red Hood and send him to jail” he said, voice stronger than he had expected. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to cry, but now his mind was cleared and the pain and sorrow, while still weighing heavily in his heart, were now bearable.

The kids looked at him with doubt, and Batman noticed that especially for Robin, it seemed like his world had collapsed. The older vigilante didn’t fault him, he had always loved Dick like a brother, and both were incredibly close.

Batgirl, on the other hand, seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as Batman, and she nodded approvingly even if her eyes were still red and her lips and hands trembled. She had always been mature, and while Bruce hated to make her go through this, when Dick and she had been so close, lovers once and then like siblings. But he was glad to have her as a support.

“We need to revise the facts that we know” he said then, seriously. “Also, there are some questions that need to be answered before we understand the whole image”.

They nodded, sober and silent, and the Dark Knight continued.

“Dick was caught a week ago, during his day off from his day job. Probably during a patrol as Nightwing” said the older vigilante.

“Can we trust Ra’s to have said the truth?” asked Robin. “He could have made up everything”.

Batman though for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, I don’t think he lied. Ra’s Al Ghul, even in his twisted way, respects me and has never lied before. He wouldn’t start now”.

Robin nodded weakly and dropped his head a little, miserable. Batgirl cleared then her throat.

“Why was Ra’s Al Ghul looking for Dick? If you said he was… he was…” she got stuck, and had to swallow several times before continuing. “What was he trying to find?” she finished, tiredly.

Batman remembered the words of the Demon’s Head, how strange they had seemed when he had heard them. “He said that Dick had stolen a jewel from him” commented the vigilante.

Both kids frowned, confused.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” groaned Batgirl.

Batman could only agree with her. “I know. It struck me as strange too, but I didn’t stop to think about it in that moment” he said.

“Did he say that? Jewel?” pressed Batgirl.

“He had said that he had taken great pains to obtain a rare gem, and that Dick had stolen it from him” repeated Batman, quoting what the Demon’s Head had told him.

Robin, who had been thinking hard for a while, suddenly snapped his head up. “Could it be that it was a metaphor?” at the inquiring stares, he hurried to explain. “You know, like… Not a shiny rock, but something very valuable. Maybe something dangerous if it fell in wrong hands?” he supplied, hopeful.

Batman thought about it. It kind of made sense, but…

“Then why didn’t Dick notify me?” he asked aloud. “Even if we were still awkward with each other when he came back, he could at least have told you, or mentioned something when we repaired our relationship” he sighed.

Robin deflated again.

“Well, let’s leave it that he stole something valuable from Ra’s Al Ghul” said Batgirl. “He searched for Dick, and then hired the Red Hood, right?”

“Yes” Batman nodded. “He needed discretion to avoid Dick getting suspicious, and the Red Hood was perfect for the job.”

“So maybe if we found a contract or something, we can charge that guy?” she asked.

“In the most optimist case. But chances are that it was more of an oral agreement and payment in black” said Batman, and the room felt into silence.

They were at a dead end. What could they possibly do? They had no way of finding the Red Hood on their own, and Ra’s Al Ghul would have surely checked out of the hotel already.

Batman sighed, tired. He refused to give up, but the options were very few and hardly satisfactory.

“Maybe it all comes back to that jewel. Dick wasn’t a fool. I’m sure that if he dared to steal something from Ra’s Al Ghul without telling us, he at least should have some sort of measure to guarantee the safety of the gem” said Batman in the end.

The other two agreed on him at this. “But how can we know? Should we search his apartment?” wondered Batgirl.

“The police already did. Let’s ask them if they noticed something strange” concluded Batman.


	8. Lover

_Jason hadn’t been so anxious in his life. Not even during one of his missions. He was seated in a table with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him and a plate full of doughnuts to top it off, and he was ready to bite his nails off._

_“Sorry, I have the fridge kind of empty. I’ve been busy” apologized Dick, only half-heartedly and without meeting his eyes._

_Dick. Jason still was interiorizing the fact that Dick was here with him, in this fucking nice house in a cliff that screamed money. That Dick was a cop, and that had pulled him out of the streets, treated him and now gave him his doughnuts._

_He glanced at them, and his stomach rumbled angrily. Jason quickly took one and gobbled it down, going instantly for the second and the third. They tasted kind of dull, but he was famished and for him they were better than steak._

_“’S alright” he mumbled, mouth full._

_His desperation seemed to distress Dick who cursed softly and went for the phone._

_“Fuck, no, it’s not alright, Jason. When was the last time you ate?” he asked, worried._

_“Dunno. Several days? I forgot” said Jason, shrugging and biting on another sweet. Their number was steadily decreasing, so he gulped down the coffee, enjoying the bitter taste and the caffeine it was giving his body._

_Dick shook his head. “I’m calling for food. Do you want anything special? Chinese? Italian? Or do you want a burger? I know this place, they make the most caloric and greasy cheeseburgers in the whole state” he asked, looking for the numbers on various places._

_“Don’t care” said Jason, chewing the last doughnut. “You think I’m going to be picky about what I eat after spending weeks fighting for bread crumbs in the street?”_

_That made Dick twitch and finally look directly at Jason. The younger boy hadn’t meant to be sarcastic, he honestly didn’t have the energy nor the actual desire to do so, but the look Dick was giving his was a miserable one and made Jason feel like trash. Again._

_He was just incredibly amazed. He was so fucking out of it he was sure he had transcended the mortal plane and was now floating in a state of eternal how-the-fuck-seriously._

_He was alive, his wounds had been treated, Dick was with him, was talking to him, and to top it all, now he was offering him food? Hell yeah, he really didn’t give a shit if it came from China or the fucking South Pole._

_“I’ll eat whatever, seriously” he repeated, trying to sound honest. Of course, it sounded desperate and pitiful._

_“I’m calling everything” concluded Dick, voice panicked as though he feared Jason would somehow die from starvation in the next ten minutes._

_“Yay, tell them to put some pepperoni and soy sauce in my burger. But no pickles, they’re fucking awful” he sneered, more out of habit than real intentions to engage in a fight._

_Dick stopped on his tracks and Jason felt a knot of anxiety in his stomach. Dick was still angry at him for everything he had said that night at Pigalle. A fucking joke now was not the best idea to keep him from remembering the worst parts._

_Then, awkwardly and slow, Dick turned to him._

_“If you dare to disrespect pickles I swear to God I’ll make you eat my cereal and muesli pizza” he threatened, a tentative smile ghosting in his lips. His voice sounded painfully hopeful, and Jason swallowed thickly. He recognized the truce, and quickly went for it._

_“That kind of food obscenity has still to be better than those omnipresent evil pickles” he answered, waiting for the verdict._

_Then Dick softly chuckled, the warm sound Jason remembered echoing deep inside of him, and he thanked the stars or the karma or whatever legion of angels was guarding him for the chance of hearing that laugh again._

_After the food arrived, both of them had engaged in a fragile conversation that had been marked by awkward pauses, worried frowns and an occasional laugh._

_Jason, who even though he had demolished a plate full of doughnuts was still hungry after so much time without eating, had attacked every plate in his sight, from a godsent cheesy burger to a more refined special Chinese rice._

_(There was no cereal and muesli pizza and Jason’s burger had actually pickles on it, but Dick ate them so the late dinner wasn’t so bad after all.)_

_After the initial awkwardness had slowly faded away, they both started to talk about what had happened after Dick had lefts. The older man had continued his trip around the globe for some time, tot in the end return to Gotham and become Nightwing. After some time, he decided the city was too small for Batman, Robin, Batgirl and him, and he moved to Blüdhaven. There, he found out he wanted to protect people day and night, and even clean the corruption, and became a cop._

_Jason just nodded now and then, thinking with black humor how Dick’s life resembled so much a bad heroes film, a promising young man deciding to protect the oppressed in every facet of his life._

_Nothing to do with his own murdering career with increasing touches of madness. Charming._

_“What about you, Jay?” asked then the older man, honest curiosity in his eyes. “What made you… you know.”_

_“Ah, betraying the man who rescued my sorry ass from the streets, you mean?” he spat bitterly. “Well, you know. Things.”_

_Maybe he should watch what he said and how he said it because Dick bristled and barely controlled the urge to growl at Jason. But something inside him had gone sour at that reaction, and was seething at the thought that Dick could very well start judging him as if he knew everything. Maybe the soy sauce was way past its expiration date._

_“You’ll need to tell me more than that if you want me to protect you” said Dick._

_Now it was Jason’s turn to get irritated. “Who the fuck told you I want- no, I NEED your fucking protection?” he said._

_“Then why did you come to Blüdhaven?” pressed the older man._

_Jason shrugged. “Chance” he said._

_“Jason!”_

_“What?!” Jason was starting to get seriously angry, without a really good idea of why. Just, Dick always managed to press all the wrong buttons. “I came to this damn city out of luck, just ‘cause I got on a truck that had left Gotham for here.”_

_“What where you doing in Gotham, then?” asked Dick, bright eyes locked on Jason’s._

_“I wanted to…” he started, and then suddenly shut up. What was he doing in Gotham? Why had he returned to Gotham? Had he wanted to get his revenge on the Joker? That thought had come later, so that wasn’t it._

_Jason blinked, perplexed, and stared at Dick. The older man seemed equally confused._

_“Why did I come to Gotham…?” he said, slowly. Then he suddenly remembered something that he could swear he tried to forget. “You said to come to Gotham if I left the League. It was an impulse, I guess.”_

_Dick stared him for a few more seconds, and then made a pained face.“You came back… because I told you that?” he whispered, and hell if that didn’t sound desperate._

_It made Jason twitch, realizing that the offer was two years old and made in the spur of the moment, and that Dick probably had just forgotten about the whole deal._

_“I… didn’t have anywhere else to go” he said, the excuse pathetic in his own ears, even if it was the truth._

_Dick closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Why didn’t you look for me?” he croaked._

_For a couple of seconds Jason though of lying. But he really didn’t see the point of it and he just went with it. “I tried to kill the Joker” he said, and Dick’s head snapped up, a horrified expression in his face._

_“What?!” he screamed, and seemed ready to jump on top of Jason and punch him in the face._

_“I couldn’t do it, though. In the end I wasn’t able to pull the trigger” said the younger man._

_“Why?” asked Dick, vehemently. Jason didn’t answer. “Why would you abandon Ra’s Al Ghul just to come to Gotham because I told you?! Why would you try to kill the Joker and then get scared to?!”screamed Dick, grabbing him by the neck of the hoodie and surprising the shit out of him. “God damn it, Jason! I…! When I saw you in that alley, half dead and starved, I thought I had gone crazy. After… After two years without forgetting about you, I… I suddenly find you in my city and it’s crazy, I thought I was seeing things, but when I reached for you, Jason, God, you have no… you have no idea of how terrified I was”_

_The older man took a couple of deep breaths. “I only… want understand you” he whispered, the hold on Jason’s clothes relaxing._

_Jason saw Dick’s stoic face crumble, the tough appearance he had maintained throughout their conversation completely destroyed, and he saw the raw misery that was consuming the older man. He watched as Dick tried to suppress the shudders that coursed though his body, the tears that that threatened to appear in his eyes, and Jason had an epiphany._

_“You still care about me” he said._

_“Of course I care! Are you an idiot?” yelled Dick, bordering the hysteria. “I love you, but every time I think I know you, something happens that makes me wonder just who you really are! I can’t understand you, and it’s driving me mad!”_

_Jason felt numb all over. So Dick still cared –loved-him, after all? He wanted to laugh. Only Dick Grayson could be such a fool. But it was part of hat had made Jason fall in love in the first time._

_So he poured everything out. About Sheila, about his days in the street, about Ra’s al Ghul picking him up and giving him a reason to keep on living. How his hatred for Batman was fed with encouragement and training until he was a sharp weapon ready to use._

_And he told him how he left the League and returned to Gotham. He told him about the Joker. About the Red Hood._

_He didn’t leave anything out of the story, not a single word, until his throat became dry. By the end of it, Jason was out of caffeine and would sleep for a week if given the chance. But he was oddly satisfied and content, because everything was out now and Dick still hadn’t handcuffed him and called in reinforcements._

_Dick had remained still and quiet during the long monologue. Then, as if he had been dreaming, he blinked tiredly and looked up at Jason._

_“Wow” he said. “Just wow.”_

_Jason snorted. “I know, right?”_

_Dick nodded and clutched him tightly again. He was even shorter than before, or maybe he was taller?_

_“Thank you for telling me” said Dick._

_Jason looked at him. “Do you understand now?”_

_“Yes” answered the older man, smiling a little, relief painted in his face._

_Then much to Jason’s horror he went in for a hug and trapped Jason._

_“Aww, no way!” he said, irked by just the thought of having Dick giving him the hug treatment. “Leave me alone, you’re grossing me out!”_

_Dick looked at him, smile broadening even more. “It’s good to have you back, mutt” he said. “Thank God I got this house big enough for two.”_

_“You’re… letting me stay?” asked Jason, surprised. His heart had started beating faster, and the pounding only increased when Dick gave him the same old smile that had made him fall so hard for him the first time._

_“Yeah, since you don’t have anywhere else to go” sighed Dick, with fond exasperation. “And I don’t plan to let you out of my sight again.”_

_Jason felt his mouth twitch, a grin spreading in his face, and he made an exception for a rule he had made just now, and hugged Dick back. The older man laughed cheerfully at the awkward and stiff gesture, and he tightened the grip on Jason._

_“Just so you know” mumbled Jason, letting his head fall in the perfect curve of Dick’s neck and shoulder and breathing in the clean and warm scent of the black haired man. “I don’t do hugs. This will be the first and last you get so get your fill now” he said, just to be clear._

_But Dick only laughed again. “That’s what I’m doing, right?”_

_The smell was so nice, and the warmth so comfortable, that Jason nuzzled closer and threw his principles through the window._

_“Hey, he said, licking his lips. “You know, I actually love you.”_

_Strangely enough, it didn’t sound like a defeat to him, not even like a confession of intentions. Just a fact._

_The older man froze for a second, and then laughed happily and kissed his lips softly._

_“You know, I actually do, too” laughed Dick, just as he sounded in his memories and delusions. “Welcome back, Jason.”_

_The warm body pressing against his, the reassuring sound of another heart beating, however, told him it was the real deal, and not a product of his imagination._

 

* * *

 

Batman left Batgirl and Robin with Pete once again, this time neither kid with energies to disobey him. The informant had actually woken up, and was awkwardly waiting outside the room. Batman wondered briefly if he should be worried about the fact that the man had seen them in such a weak condition, but he dismissed the thought. It’s not like it was shameful, crying for a loved one.

Even for Batman.

The Dark Knight took off again from the roofs, the day slowly extinguishing in favor of the night. His whole body resented the lack of rest and the bruises, but he couldn’t stop yet. He had to end this, any way possible.

He finally arrived to the building of the B.P.D., and rummaged through one of his pockets for a calling device, and pressed Amy Rohrbach’s number. Batman hoped the captain would be able to give him the info needed, but instead of her, a male voice answered.

“Yes? This is Capt. Rohrbach number. I’m officer Gannon Malloy, I’m in charge of this phone while she’s on an assignment… May I know who is calling?” said the man. Batman needed a couple of seconds to recognize the name.

“You’re Dick Grayson’s partner” he said, mildly surprised.

“Yes, that’s right. Who are…” answered the other man.

“I need info on him. Get on the rooftop” ordered Batman.

“W… Wait, what? Just a…” sputtered Gannon.

“Now” he growled, and hanged.

 

The door to the rooftop opened and officer Gannon stepped outside, wary of his surroundings.

“Is there… Is there anyone here?” he said, looking around him, trying to pinpoint the location of the vigilante.

“Me” rumbled Batman, leaving the shadows in which he had been camouflaged.

The policeman startled and turned around quickly, his eyes opening in surprise at the sight of the Dark Knight in front of him.

“Holy…! Batman?”

“I’m investigating the case. I need info” he said, interrupting the other man.

Gannon blinked at this. “Capt. Rohrbach said she had someone good on it but… Was it you? Holy shit” he said, awestruck.

Batman only emitted an affirmative growl, and proceeded to ask the officer.

“We found some evidence that Mr. Grayson’s disappearance could be due to him acquiring a valuable item from the wrong person” said the vigilante. There was no point in telling the police that Dick had already… No, it would only throw everything in disarray. “You were his partner. Do you happen to know something about it?”

Gannon frowned, still wary of the caped crusader.

“You mean, he stole something? That’s absurd. Dick’s not like that” said the officer, firmly.

“I know” said Batman. “But that’s what the evidence points to.”

The policeman mumbled something and scratched the back of his neck, still unconvinced.

“I… don’t know about that. It’s the first time I hear about something like this” he said in the end.

“Did Mr. Grayson ever said something or act strangely when he was on duty?”

“Strangely? Well, I don’t know… I guess? I mean, Dick is a bit weird in some aspects, but he’s a great cop. Sometimes I would feel like he was holding back on our shifts, and others it was just the opposite, him doing these crazy jumps around the criminals like a kung-fu master”

Batman hummed noncommittally. “So he didn’t give any indications that was hiding a valuable item? What about his house? You went there when he went missing” he continued.

“Yeah, but there was nothing wrong with it. I mean, I’ve been there several times, and it was mostly the same as ever. Nothing out of place” finished Gannon.

Batman nodded again, and felt the feeble ray of hope disappear. If they weren’t able to find something about the jewel, they could very well be stuck once again without leads. Then, Gannon, who had been thinking about something, suddenly raised his head.

“Um, I don’t know if this will be of any help but… I mean, knowing Dick, he wouldn’t put that kind of burden on other person…” mumbled the officer.

Batman frowned. “What is it? What person?” he demanded.

“Maybe, if he did have that item, he gave it to his lover to keep it safe” said Gannon.

“His what?” blurted Batman. He didn’t know what he expected, but it seriously wasn’t this.

“His lover” repeated Gannon, slowly. “They are really tight, you know? Practically attached to the hip. I met him once, and man was I surprised, but he seemed like a nice guy and…”

“Dick had a lover?” interrupted Batman. “And a male one?” Bruce was perplexed. He didn’t know any of this. Dick never said a word about being bisexual.

“Uuh, yeah. They told me they’ve been dating for months” said the officer, suddenly hostile. “I take you don’t have anything against him being with a man, right?”

“No” said Batman, still reeling at the discovery. He really didn’t know about this! Dick had always been quite open with his affections, and didn’t usually keep things like this in secret. “Just surprised. Where is his lover now?”

“Actually…” Gannon seemed worried. “I haven’t seen him. And now that I think about it, he hasn’t come by at all, he hasn’t said anything about the disappearance at all. I can’t help but wonder…” he trailed off.

Batman stared at him for a couple of seconds. The questions continued to pile up, but no answer seemed to come. Who was Dick’s lover? Why hadn’t he reported Dick’s disappearance? Had he been targeted too? Or was he in any way in league with Ra’s AL Ghul?

Then Batman was suddenly struck with a realization.

“He didn’t say anything about him” he said aloud, startling Gannon.

“Who?” asked the officer, lost for a moment.

“Pete, the informant. When we questioned him, he said he saw Dick being followed by someone but… he never said anything about him having a lover” explained Batman, each second passing the feeling that something was wrong getting bigger.

Gannon frowned. “That’s strange. There weren’t too open about it, but it was easy enough to spot them having coffee sometimes during Dick’s time off” commented the officer.

So that meant that there was no way Pete hadn’t know that Dick was seeing someone. The question is why he had decided to keep that information for them.

“I need to go back” concluded Batman. There was no time to lose. He felt a strange force pulling him, a feeling that he was close, very close to have every piece of this damned puzzle ready to be put in place.

“W… Already?” asked Gannon, surprised. “Do you really think Dick’s guy has anything to do with this?”

“That’s what I plan on discovering” said the Dark Knight, as he took off once again, into the darkening streets.


	9. Jason Todd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Guess who's back...  
> I'm really sorry you had to wait a whole month and a half for an update. I had wanted to do this faster but life happened.  
> But don't worry, because I'm going to give you all the remaining chapters in one go <3  
> And thank you, THANK YOU, to everyone who was kind enough to leave a kudo or a comment. It really made me pull through with this fic.
> 
> Enjoy~~

_"Why the hell did you make me wait so long for this?" groaned Jason, and Dick couldn't actually tell if he was seething or just aroused._

_"Been tied up with work, you know" said the older man, wincing a little._

_Jay turned his head backwards, and wow, but Dick had to admit he didn't knew someone could look so pissed with a cock in his ass. Well, maybe he did, but he'd rather not think about it._

_"You shitting me?" growled Jason, and Dick really needed to do something to with his tone. So he gave his hips an experimental push and got a broken moan as a reward. For all of his bravado and sass, Jay could make pretty cute sounds when he bottomed. And Dick was going to try and totally take back the lost time._

_It had been a couple of weeks since they met again and Jason had grown restless. Dick had offered him a room in his house, and after some awkward jokes and quite a display of ‘are-you-sure’ from Jason, he had accepted. His wounds healed, and his strength came back._

_And that’s when he started to get bored out of his mind. Without anything to do and Dick working the terrible shifts of a cop, he was left alone in the house with only a giant dinosaur as his best friend. Dick had kind of freaked out when he caught the younger man talking to it as if it was a house cat or something. They hadn’t talked about it, and Dick just shrugged and made a face when Jason asked where the fuck had the dino come from._

_At least, and thanks to Nightwing, Jason had access to a marvelous gym with lots of shiny things, like scrima tacts, batarangs, smoke bombs and every piece of non-lethal arsenal his mind could desire. After a few hours, however, the training became dull for him, especially if he didn’t have Dick to spar with._

_“You could try to find a job, you know” said Dick one night they actually had time to have dinner together. “It’s not like I’m locking you up in my apartment.”_

_Jason snorted and shrugged the matter away. Maybe he could try, but didn’t really have the drive. That left him with lots of time to think around the house._

_On his side, Dick was also having a tough time adapting to all the changes. Having Jason back into his life was good, but it wasn’t the same as it had been in France. The happy-go-lucky relationship they had back then had become a kind of coexistence where they barely saw each other thanks to his police work. And they never talked about sex. Ever._

_Sometimes Dick caught himself eating a nail from worry. Jason had always been very vocal on what he wanted and how he wanted it, and for him to spend weeks without even bringing up the issue… Well. That could only mean he didn’t want to have sex with him anymore, right?_

_Then one day Dick had returned early from work, and found Jason grinning in the hall, waiting for him. Seemed like something good had happened, and the older man smiled too._

_“Jay!” said Dick, cheerfully. “Have you had dinner ye…?”_

_“I’m horny” interrupted Jason. “Can we fuck?”_

_Dick stared at him with his mouth opening and closing like a drowning fish, and he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose._

_“I feel like we’ve been through this same conversation before” he mumbled, remembering a lousy wood cabin and awful cots._

_Jason shrugged, and the grin grew wider._

_“Yeah. Will it end the same way? Because I’m totally fine with that” he teased._

_The older man hesitated for a moment. “I thought… Well, I thought you didn’t want to go back to that” confessed Dick._

_“Why would you think that?” asked Jason, frowning with a bewildered expression._

_Dick huffed. “You didn’t say anything at all about sex!” he said, indignant. “You’re practically a walking sex machine! In France you didn’t let me rest for a single night, always after me like a mutt in heat!”_

_Jason rolled his eyes and groaned as if Dick had said something ridiculous. “That’s ‘cause you haven’t been home for more than a couple of hours each time! You want me to say, oh, hey Dickie, let’s have a quickie after you get out of your cop work and before you go out again as Nightwing? Wait, maybe that’s not such a bad idea…”_

_Now it was Dick’s turn to blink owlishly at Jason._

_“So you want to have sex?” asked the older man, because that seemed to be the whole point of this conversation._

_“You thought I didn’t want to have sex with you?” asked in turn Jason, making once again a face of utter disbelief. It was making Dick feel like a jerk and an idiot, actually. “Dick, I’m always thinking about having sex with you” he said, then._

_Dick stared at him and felt his cheeks redden way too much for his taste. The embarrassment went up higher when Jason noticed and cracked a grin again._

_“What the fuck, Jason, seriously” groaned the older man, covering his face with both hands. “And you tell me now?”_

_Jason laughed and grabbed Dick by the arm, pulling him towards the bedroom while the older man mumbled soft curses and tried to cover his blush._

_So here they were now, two years later and Jason bottoming for the first time. Some would say hell had frozen over but for Dick it was as if Christmas had come together with his birthday._

_He had always wanted to do Jason, even if he was completely okay with being in the bottom. But now that he had Jason tightly held by the hip, and his cock inside his tight ass to the hilt, he wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t fight his younger lover for the top next time._

_Jason was trying very hard to keep quiet, and Dick wasn’t having any of that. He pressed his chest to the other’s back, and gave the pale neck soft bites and nips and kisses that soon sweetened considerably Jason’s moans._

_The boy was tight and hot, and Dick’s length fit perfectly inside. His hand crawled to Jason’s own weeping cock and gave it a sharp tug._

_“Fffffuck” moaned Jay, thrusting his hips to get more friction out of Dick’s hand._

_“You like this?” teased the older man, biting Jason’s earlobe and enjoying the blush that spread from his cheeks to his neck._

_Damn, but he was adorable._

_“Shit” gasped Jason, and shook his head, trying to get his hair out of his face. “I’m close, Dick” he bit out, voice needy and hurried._

_Dick bit his lower lip and increased the pace. His own climax was getting closer, and decided it was time to end this. His hips slapped against Jason, who let out a chocked sob and started whimpering at the increased rhythm. His cock was swollen and wet, and after just two more thrusts he was coming with a strangled cry all over Dick’s hand. The older man had to bite his lips even harder than before to avoid pushing deeper inside Jason’s overly sensitive body._

_He was starting to pull out, still hard and on the edge, when Jay made a tiny irritated noise and moved his hips weakly._

_“… n’t go. Y’ can come inside” he mumbled, and Dick nearly went off that instant. After breathing once, however, he just needed a couple of erratic thrusts to come inside Jason’s delicious heat with a loud moan._

_He was left boneless, and just crashed on top of Jason, still inside him. The younger man let out a soft oof, and Dick clung to him like jet-pack, smiling like a fool and utterly satisfied._

_“Y’ are still in, y’ know?” groaned Jason, who did nothing to change the situation. His breathing was slow and peaceful, and Dick noticed the small and pleased grin threatening to creep in his mouth._

_“Yeah” said Dick. “It’ll come out soon” he mumbled stifling a yawn._

_“It was good” said Jason after a while._

_Dick was like 98% asleep but he managed to answer. “Yeah? Good”._

_“Dick?”_

_“Hmm?” grunted the older man, because he wanted his sleep now._

_“Your moans sound like a bottom’s even when you top” cackled Jason._

_Dick’s loud groan was only interrupted by Jason’s gleeful laugh._

 

* * *

 

Batman raced back to the safe house, instincts screaming him that Pete had the answer to this maddening mystery, that once the snitch told them everything, they would at least be able to understand everything that had been happening.

Why Dick crossed the Demon’s Head? Was what he stole that valuable? And why didn’t he tell the rest of them? Was it because of his lover? And who was he, exactly, that the usually outspoken Dick had kept him in the shadows for months? Could that lover be actually Ra’s Al Ghul’s spy?

He found himself with only questions, and no answers.

He finally saw the building approaching, and sped up. He was nearly there, when a shadow suddenly appeared at his side and kicked him out of the way, into a dusty rooftop. Batman fell on his side and coughed, wincing slightly at the bruised ribs. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken, and the vigilante straightened up to face his attacker.

He wasn’t surprised when he saw the Red Hood standing before him, but it was an unwelcome company, one that Batman needed to get rid of quickly. The mysteries around the unresolved case could wait.

“Heya, boss” greeted cheerfully the hired gun. “How’ve you been? You’re a little slow today, haven’t you slept?”

“What are you doing here?” snarled the vigilante.

“Aw, so not fun, Batman” complained the Red Hood. “I was hoping to have a nice chat with you” he said.

“Have you come to kill Pete?” asked the older man.

“Sheesh, really. You don’t give up, yeah? Makes my job more difficult…”

“Did you kill Dick?!” roared Batman.

That man was unnerving, pushing the exact buttons to make him mad. The Red Hood went unnaturally still and then shrugged.

“Now, did I…? Who knows?” he said, cocking his head to a side.

Batman saw red and lost reason for a second. However, that second was enough to jump towards the offending character that had taken his boy from him. He was blinded by rage, wanted to beat that red helmet until not even dust remained.

But his body was already working on pure adrenaline and nothing else, and his senses and reactions were dulled and slowed. The younger fighter avoided his simple attack and threw a kick of his own aimed at his temple. It was slow enough for Batman to block, but it was powerful nonetheless. And more important, it was a taunting attack, one that the Red Hood knew Batman could take. Making it slow was a way to make Batman angry.

A tactic that worked wonders on Bruce now, seeing how blinded he was by exhaustion, rage and pain. Batman snarled and threw himself at the hired gun again, desperate.

The kick that landed on his knee had been so quick he hadn’t even seen it coming. Pain bloomed and Batman fell to the ground, gasping. Thankfully, the bone hadn’t been broken, and the knee was only bruised, but the attack has been incapacitating, and Batman saw the Red Hood’s shadow looming behind him.

“Sorry, boss, but I really need you to sleep for a while” he said, and then a painful hit in the back of his neck made him drift into darkness.

 

Batman regained his consciousness slowly, fighting the fog that had made a home in his head. His thoughts were in disarray, his tired body pulling him towards the darkness again. Only plain stubbornness and instinct made him become more and more lucid.

“Ah, detective. I was wondering when you would join us” said a well known voice, and suddenly Batman was completely awake. He tried to get on his feet, only to discover he was handcuffed on both wrists and ankles, so he only managed to adopt a kneeling position.

“Ra’s…” he growled, body tensed and ready to jump if it was necessary. Then he felt a hard and cold object press in the back of his head, and a familiar distorted voice smugly laughing.

“Ah, ah, don’t move it, Mr. Wayne” purred the Red Hood. “You’re gonna be sore for a little while, and my client here wanted to talk with you so play nice.”

Bruce scowled, and for the first time he noticed his cowl had been pushed back. He turned towards Ra’s Al Ghul, who smiled and nodded.

“That is right, detective. After our meeting I had hoped you’d leave the matter alone, but seems I underestimated your stubbornness” commented the Demon’s Head. “So I’ll honor your determination, and I shall tell you my purpose this time. If you behave, maybe I’ll even return these children to you unharmed” he said, pointing towards two figures in the back of the room.

Batman had to swallow a lump of anxiety in his throat. Batgirl and Robin were both unconscious and bound, laying still in one of the corners of the room. They seemed to be fine, however, and Batman let himself relax a little on that aspect.

Then there was Pete, barely a trembling mess at Ra’s Al Ghul’s feet. He seemed to be bruised, and Batman would swear he was crying from fear. The vigilante felt a pang of guilt; it was their fault that the man had been involved in this mess.

“Let the man go, Ra’s” he said, hoping the Demon’s Head would at least tend to reason. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The older man, however, just sneered and shook his head.

“That’s where you are wrong, detective. He’s quite an important piece in this game” he said. The snitcher shrieked weakly, terrified.

“Why? Because he knew about your dealings with the Red Hood?” asked Batman, trying to look for a way to spare the blond man.

“Not quite” said the Demon’s head. He seemed to be enjoying himself, playing everyone in the palm of his hand. “Did you not uncover the truth after all, detective?”

The silence was telling, and the conceited smile Ra’s Al Ghul bore was wide and knowing.

“Well, I can’t blame you” he commented. “After all, why should you remember him?”

Batman frowned. “What do you mean?” he asked, slowly.

“Do you at least remember, Batman, an orphanage called Saint Marie Beaumont?”

The vigilante stared at the older man, wondering what was going on. The name did ring a bell, but he couldn’t point out why. However, Pete had suddenly become quiet and his face paled.

“It was a house for parentless kids that, among other sources, received funds from Wayne Foundation” supplied the Demon’s Head, amused.

Bruce startled at this. He remembered now. One of the first charities he had started after he became Batman, and one that had ended in tragedy. He swallowed.

“Yes, I remember. The director and board were corrupt, and instead of providing children with a safe place, they sold the kids and kept the money” he said, remembering the gruesome business he uncovered. “By the time they had been arrested, there were hundreds of kids missing, sold to God knows who. Some were found later, with extreme physical and or psychological damage. Most of them were never seen again” he finished, sorrow filling his words.

It was one of his biggest failings, one where he had not only failed to save all those kids, but even had given money to the monsters that had done all that.

Ra’s Al Ghul watched him, analyzing his reaction, and then continued his tale.

“That’s right. Most of those kids probably died at the hands of their owners” Batman cringed, and the Demon laughed. “There were a few of them, however, who managed to escape. As far as I know, this young man here is one of those lost kids.”

Batman turned towards the snitcher, surprised. Pete had stopped crying and shivering, and now that Batman paid more attention to him, he seemed like a completely different man from before, his eyes burning with a deep rooted rage.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled, without intending to. “I couldn’t save you.”

The snitcher turned towards him, a glare of pure rage in his too old eyes.

“Not like you fucking tried too hard” he snarled. Batman didn’t say anything else. There was nothing to atone for what he had done.

He turned towards Ra’s again, shaking his head.

“What does all this have to do with Dick?” he said tiredly, staring at his old foe.

Ra’s Al Ghul waited for a few seconds before he answered, and even then, he seemed to ignore Batman’s question.

“Does the name Sheila Haywood mean anything to you, detective?” he said.

Bruce froze at that name.

“She was a doctor in Gotham. A respected woman, loved by friends but not by family, for she only had her son by her side. The father went away when she became pregnant” said Ra’s, not waiting for Bruce to answer. “They had a good life, it seems. At least until a madman set fire to their entire building to call for Batman”

_Oh, God, no_. He remembered. The Joker had been in charge of more than a dozen of arson cases all over Gotham, trying to complete the shape of the Bat to call him out. He saved lots of people that night, but there had been some who didn’t make it out alive. And one of those had been Sheila. Her warm smile still haunted him to this day, the only remainder left of her an old picture in the data bank of the computer in the Batcave. But then, the man before him, Pete…

_It can’t be_ , thought Batman.

“After her death, the boy was sent to an orphanage. Can you guess which one, detective?” asked Ra’s Al Ghul.

Bruce looked stricken, his mind a blank space while he stared at Pete helplessly. The young man avoided him, a resentful expression plastered in his face.

“You seem to be having difficulties to speak up, detective” commented Ra’s Al Ghul. “I’ll help you” he said, pointing to the snitcher. “This man here, the one you call Pete, is the son of Sheila Haywood, the boy you abandoned to the hands of slavers and that I took in as my apprentice. Jason Todd.”


	10. The man under the Red Hood

_It had been several months of fights, laughter, sex and thrills. Dick wouldn’t say he was living the perfect life, because he was a cop in Blüdhaven, and Nightwing to boot. Moreover, he was living with his selfish younger lover, who had all but taken over his house and refused to look for a job. But it came very much close, and he was happy and satisfied with it._

_Jason had changed since that time in Paris, Dick could tell in his calmer demeanor and too-old eyes. However, he was still a mutt and a brat that would pout when Dick refused to have sex if he needed to go to work early, or that would sometimes smoke in the balcony, as if he thought Dick wouldn’t notice the incriminating smell._

_It had been difficult at first to adjust at having Jason around. The fight that had him pacing and running away from him first still prickled in the back of his mind. But even though both of them still argued about a lot, now that there were no secrets that could potentially tore their relationship –not minor secrets like the fact that Jason watched My Little Pony and thought Dick didn’t know- they managed to make up some time later._

_Dick was happy, and had decided from the beginning to completely forget about the one thing that could blow everything up. That Ra’s Al Ghul was still looking for Jason, and that in the moment the Demon’s Head found his lover, blood would rain. Dick was ready to fight, but for the time being, he wanted to bask in the warm cocoon of happiness both of them were living in._

_The cocoon broke one night, when Jason returned from posing as a new snitcher called Pete. The persona had come from his second name, Peter, and was a blond man, defeated posture and cracked voice from smoking. Jason always put on the same hoodie he was wearing the day Dick found him in the streets._

_That day, Jason entered the house with an abnormal pale face, as if the Devil itself had come to say hello, but his eyes were hard and determined. He went straight to where Dick was preparing dinner and stood right in front of his nose._

_“Ra’s Al Ghul is looking for you” he blurted out._

_Dick stared at him for a couple of seconds before the words sunk in. “What?!”_

_Jason sighed and avoided his eyes. “He’s looking for someone to take you in and ask you some personal questions. I can’t think of any other reason that wouldn’t be to make you pit out whatever you know about me” he said, softly._

_Dick shivered. “You think he knows about Paris?”_

_“Yeah, probably. I don’t think he knows the part of the sex, though.”_

_“Oh, great” scoffed Dick. “So he doesn’t know we had sex, what a relief.”_

_Jason shrugged. “It is, actually. He’d be even more vicious against you if he knew he could get me that way”._

_Dick stared at him for a moment, and then sighed. “We should call Batman” he finally said._

_“No!” snapped Jason, startling the older man with his intensity. “We have to do this alone. Ra’s Al Ghul would only suspect if we called Batman.”_

_Dick massaged the bridge of his nose. That issue again. Even after months of trying, he hadn’t managed to convince Jason to at least try to think of Batman as a potential ally. There hadn’t been any luck, not since Jason’s hate still was deeply rooted in his heart. Dick suspected that the only way his lover would ever be able to at least get past that rage would be if him and Bruce came face to face, all secrets on the table and with no more lies to tell. But that was still a long way to go; for now they had more pressing issues._

_“Okay” he finally said. “Do you have at least a plan?”_

_“Yeah, actually” said Jason, grinning. “I spent the last two hours thinking about it, and I think I got a pretty good plan. But we can’t fuck up in any part”._

_Dick made a face. “That doesn’t sound like a good plan to me” he commented._

_Jason shrugged. “I mean, it’s a crazy, dangerous and potentially mortal plan. If Ra’s catches us, we’re both as good as dead”._

_“Yeah, definitely not the definition of a good plan” said Dick, and the younger man grumbled._

_“We don’t have a choice, you know?” he said, pointing at his lover. “And anyway, my plan is putting you in the safest place we can, even if it still is pretty dangerous”_

_Dick frowned. “I’m not putting myself away while you’re out on the frontline” he warned. He wouldn’t let Jason face this alone, not after having coming this far._

_But Jason only rolled his eyes, and sighed. “I know. But trust me here, okay? I’m telling you now, you’re going to have a fun week. Like, real fucking fun” he said, eyes serious._

_They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Dick breathed deeply and put his hand on Jason’s shoulder._

_“Okay” he said. “I trust you, Jason. Always. Tell me your plan.”_

_Jason smiled briefly, thankful, and then that tiny smile became a mischievous grin. “We’re having the Red Hood take up Ra’s Al Ghul job and kidnap you while you’re out as Nightwing”._

_“We’re what?”_

 

* * *

 

Batman stared the blond man, Pete, Jason Todd, who had stopped shivering and stood very still. He showed no expression in his face, nothing to indicate what he was feeling. The son of Sarah Todd, the woman he hadn’t been able to save from the flames of a building attacked by the Joker.

Then Jason sighed dramatically, and slowly got on his feet. The air around the young man changed, and the dark knight saw his body adopting a prouder stance, muscles suddenly becoming taut as if his body had just remembered who he was, and what he was capable of. Before his eyes, Batman saw a defeated man, crushed by the harsh circumstances of his life in the streets of Blüdhaven, become a trained fighter without fear of his opponent.

The stone cold expression suddenly became mocking, a smug smile appearing in his face, and the man sighed, turning towards Batman with an apologetic expression.

“So… My bad, Batman. I wasn’t completely sincere with you” he said, although his voice showed no remorse at all. It wasn’t cracked by years of smoking, and it had a higher pitch than Pete’s. In other circumstances, Bruce would have been impressed.

Jason reached for his hair, and fiddled with it for a few seconds, until the golden mane fell down and Batman gaped at the sight of short, black hair instead of blonde. The young man noticed his confusion and shrugged. “It’s incredible what a wig can do, huh?”

The vigilante was just speechless. He could have never thought this would happen.

“You’re… Jason Todd?”

“Yeah. Glad to see me after you gave me away to those bastards?” asked the young man, voice cold and sharp as a knife.

“I’m so…”

“Shut up! I don’t give a fuck about you” he snarled. “You let my mother die because you couldn’t keep the Joker in Arkham for a fucking night!”

Batman pursed his lips, mind still spinning from the shock.

“You’re… with the League” he said, aloud and bitter. “You tricked us all.”

“There seems to have a misunderstanding here” said the Red Hood, startling Batman. He’d been quiet for the whole time, and the vigilante had almost forgotten he was still in the room.

“What do you mean?” he asked, suspicious.

The masked man shrugged and pointed towards Jason. “That guy? Defected from the League and won a death sentence. My job was to find him and bring him to Ra’s Al Ghul” he explained. “He’s not with Ra’s Al Ghul, quite the contrary actually. He was pals with Dick Grayson, to the point the cop hid his existence from everyone and covered for him.”

Batman finally made the connection, and a sudden rage filled him. The pieces were all aligning themselves at long last.

Jason was Dick’s lover. Batman didn’t know how, and when they had met, but it was obvious that Nightwing had known very well who was Jason Todd. And since the boy was being persecuted by Ra’s Al Ghul, Dick hadn’t being able to talk about him freely, and had hidden his relationship with him as much as possible.

But if it was true, then, the reality was too cruel for Batman to bear.

“You used him to hide from Ra’s Al Ghul” whispered Batman, torn by the pain.

Jason turned towards him, smile gone from his face. There was no need to ask who Batman was talking about.

“He died for you” added Batman, snarling. “He gave his life protecting you. You knew Ra’s Al Ghul would come for you, and Dick gave his life to protect yours.”

The room was completely silent, all eyes in Jason, who wore a blank mask. For Batman, the silence was telling, and he closed his eyes, mourning the loss of his first partner for the sake of this man. Dick had given his life willingly to a man that hadn’t even mourned him, and that if not for the Red Hood, he’d had lived happy and safe knowing he was alive because Dick hadn’t told anyone about him.

Then Ra’s Al Ghul burst into a frenzied laughter, the sound of it unnerving Batman more than anything. Batgirl and Robin both wore similar terrified expressions

“Oh, dear, poor Richard. Such a gullible man, to put faith in a treacherous creature as yourself” sneered the Demon’s Head.

Jason growled menacingly, and for a moment he seemed ready to attack Ra’s Al Ghul.

“Excuse me, can we keep going? ‘Cause, you know, I’m getting cramps in my arm from pointing the gun to Wayne’s head here” said the Red Hood, dryly, and Ra’s Al Ghul nodded.

“Of course. I too believe we’ve wasted too much time…” started Ra’s.

In that moment, Batgirl and Robin started moving, regaining consciousness. The room fell into a tense silence, and Batman cursed that they had to wake up now, just to watch an execution, and learn of such a disgusting betrayal. She was the first to awake completely, even if it took her a few seconds to grasp the situation. She stared at Jason, confused.

“Pete…?” she said, frowning as if she didn’t believe her eyes.

The young man turned to her and smiled cheekily. “Yup, that’s me. Oh, but my real name’s Jason Todd and I’ve kinda been making you go around in circles the whole time.”

She blinked, and then her expression turned to one of pure rage. “You traitor…” she hissed. “So that’s why you…”

Jason snickered, in any way regretful, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Aw, you’re still sore about that? I was just working on my best interests…” he mocked.

Batman stared at the both of them, uncomprehending. Robin was staring at Jason too, with an excessive wariness, as if…

“You knocked us out!” yelled Batgirl. “You attacked Robin and then me, you damn…!”

“He was calling someone!” said Robin, suddenly. “I heard him talk to someone on the phone, and then he saw me and knocked me out!”

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Ra’s Al Ghul, frowning and staring at the Red Hood. “Didn’t you say you took them out and brought them to one of your safe houses?”

“Wait” interrupted Robin. “What are you talking about? This is Nightwing’s safe house!”

Jason seemed surprised for a fraction of a second, and then burst into a hysterical laugh. Ra’s Al Ghul looked like he had been stabbed, and his death glare move to and from Jason and the Red Hood.

The situation was pure madness. Batman felt Batgirl’s inquisitive eyes boring into his skull, as well as Robin’s who seemed scared by the weight of his own words. The older vigilante just shook his head, trying to get a hold on something that would help him understand. Nightwing’s safe house or the Red Hood’s? His headache was only getting worse.

“What is the meaning of this?” hissed the Demon’s Head, seething and staring at Jason. “Who were you calling? Answer me!”

“Ah” sighed the Red Hood, turning all heads towards him.”That would be me” he said, cocking his head to a side. “Seems like we got busted” he said to Jason, lowering his gun and putting it back into the thigh holster.

Jason scratched the back of his neck, still chuckling to himself. “Huh. We had to make a mistake somewhere, after all. But to fuck up with the apartment…” he said, amusement obvious in his voice. “Thing is, Ra’s, you kind of fucked up.”

Ra’s Al Ghul was livid, pure rage pouring off him. “How dare you…?” he hissed.

Jason smiled knowingly, and raised one finger to interrupt the Demon’s Head rampage. “First, you had to go and from all the hired killers in the city you had to choose the Red Hood” he said, pointing towards said man. “That was one helluva slip on your part.”

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Ra’s Al Ghul, seething. He turned towards the Red Hood and seemed ready to strangle him. “Explain yourself!”

The masked man shrugged. “Sure, why not?” he said, with apparent cheerfulness. “You see, all that talk about a newbie who wanted in the drug business? All fake. Jason used his persona as Pete to spread the rumor that the Red Hood was a criminal. In fact, he’s a vigilante”.

The room fell into a stunned silence. Even the Demon’s Head seemed to have trouble grasping the full implications of this. Batman was the first one to snap out of his confusion.

“Then the properties of the drug dealers…” he started.

The Red Hood nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “… are all going to appear tomorrow at Captain Rohrbach’s desk, with a beautiful list of names and evidence to keep some people behind bars for a long while.”

“No way” muttered Batgirl, awestruck. Batman too was impressed by the reckless, but nonetheless effective plan. But there was something that still didn’t add up. Ra’s Al Ghul quickly noticed too, and turned again towards Jason, in a movement that Batman had seen in beast that had been cornered and bared its fangs at an unknown threat.

“What about Richard Grayson, then?” growled the leader of the League. “If you and the Red Hood were working together, why would you kill him?”

Jason suddenly went very still, as if something had stung him. When he turned to face Ra’s Al Ghul, Batman was surprised to see so much hatred in his eyes.

“You’re a fucking psycho, old man. You knew about our meeting in France, and you still thought that I would sacrifice him for my own good? Why the fuck do you think I left the League, Ra’s? Because I’m nothing like you” he spat.

Robin suddenly jumped at Jason’s words, and almost bit his tongue from excitement and hope.

“Then, that means Dick is alive!” he said. “He’s alive!”

Batman couldn’t describe the magnitude of the relief that flooded his whole being when he saw Jason nod slowly, smiling. He heard Robin scream excitedly, and Batgirl let out a choked cry that soon enough ended in sobbing.

“Where is he?” whispered Ra’s Al Ghul, like a snake ready to attack.

Jason snorted and shrugged, not looking at him directly.

“You still haven’t figured that one out? Such quality work” he said, derisive. “He’s always been around, in the safest place I could put him. Someone no one would dare imagine it was him ‘cause, you know, it was the bad guy”.

While Jason had been talking, the Red Hood had brought his hands to the back of the helmet, and released the safety locks that kept it in place. Batman knew this because he’d been staring at him since Jason had started talking, fighting with the newborn hope in his heart, because it would be too crazy, too convoluted, even for him.

Then the helmet came off and flew towards Jason’s open arms, who caught it and held it in front of him, in a mock image of Hamlet with the skull risen before his eyes. However, no one saw him do this, because everyone was staring at the man under the Red Hood.

Batman could almost feel his heart give in, the hope turning reality against all odds, because the face behind the helmet was none other than Dick Grayson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, had you guessed it already? We're approaching the end now...


	11. The people you love

_“I don’t really remember much about my mother. Only that she was blond, and that she had the prettiest smile in the whole world. But details apart from that are foggy and scraps of images and sensations left in my brain” had said Jason one day._

_They had been resting in the bed after a good round of sex that had left them utterly debauched, and the youngest man had suddenly started to talk. Dick just looked at him, silent, and let his lover speak._

_“I loved her so much, you know. And even though it was like that, I can’t remember how she was taken from me that night.”_

_“You were a kid, Jason, and what you experienced was traumatic…” said Dick._

_“I know that!” had snarled Jason. “Do you know what else is traumatic? Having your heart stop from pure fear, mixed with deficient oxygen intake due to a large amount of smoke in my lungs. They said I was clinically dead for three whole minutes. When I finally woke up, it felt as if I had had to carve my way out from my own grave.”_

_Dick had sighed, not in the least angry at Jason’s outburst. His hand had been drawing soothing circles in his back, and eventually Jason had relaxed again. “I know, Jay. It’s alright” whispered the older man, kissing the youngest temples._

_Jason sighed. “It’s just… I remember him” he said, weakly._

_“Him?”_

_“Batman.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“Everything was on fire. The flames and smoke chocked me, made my head spin and my lungs collapse, but I could still hear my mother’s cries. She was yelling at something or someone, just I couldn’t understand what she was saying. And then a big shadow appeared in front of me, suddenly grabbing me and hurling me up his shoulder._

_“I tried to scream, but my throat wasn’t working properly, and I couldn’t tell him to go back for my mother. I saw her just as Batman carried me out of the collapsing building, crying something and reaching for my hand. I think he called my name just before the upper floor gave out and a ton of fire and ruble fell on her.”_

_“After that, it was easy to hate Batman, who wouldn’t save my mother from the fire. To hate the city for giving me to a couple with ties with the mafia, who made me work for them. And even to hate Bruce Wayne, because they’d always laugh and say that not only I was giving them money, but even Mr. Wayne was paying them to have me. That hate festered over the terrible weeks I spent being just a piece of meat and after, on the time I spent in the streets. By the time Ra’s Al Ghul found me, I had already become a vicious and twisted little monster.”_

_Dick didn’t say anything while Jason talked. The older man knew that this could be very well the first time Jason ever addressed the matter with someone. There was nothing he could say, either, that would make all those years of pain, fear and rage disappear. Even if he wanted to do just that, Dick was all too aware that this was something that Jason needed to do by himself. But he would not do it alone._

_Dick just cuddled closer to Jason, hoping that just his body, a warm presence by Jason’s side would be enough for tonight. The younger man shuddered lightly, but huddled even closer to him, and breathed deeply, relaxed and as in peace as he could allow himself._

_And for that night, that was enough._

 

* * *

 

Everything went off the minute Ra’s Al Ghul saw Dick, and later on Batman would only be able to recall small fragments. The Demon’s Head, once he understood the full proportions of his mistake, lost his mind and threw himself against the newly resurrected Nightwing. No one saw the attack, and Batman was ashamed to say that he had reacted far too slowly to the sudden attack. Both Batgirl and Robin were still dumbstruck with the turn of events, and so there was no one ready to stop Ra’s Al Ghul from grabbing Dick by the neck and try to break it like a dry branch.

The only one who reacted fast enough to avoid the terrible end was Jason. Batman never saw anyone move as fast as that boy when he jumped and threw a kick to the assassin’s head with a vicious snarl. Ra’s Al Ghul, blinded with rage, couldn’t defend against the sudden blow and released a pained yell when Jason’s boot made contact with his temple.

Dick fell to the ground gasping and coughing, and with the same suddenness with which he had assaulted the Demon’s Head, Jason quickly went to his side, desperately making sure the other man was alright.

Batman turned towards Ra’s, that even after taking such a dangerous blow he was still conscious. The man was the spitting image of hatred, and the older vigilante readied himself for the fight.

“I’ll kill them both myself” seethed the Demon’s Head. “No one can make a fool out without paying dearly for it!”

“You are at disadvantage here, Ra’s” growled Batman. “You aren’t going to go anywhere”.

For the first time since Dick had taken off the helmet, the assassin seemed to notice him. His expression hardened and his gaze focused.

“You might be right, Detective. Today I lose” he said, slowly, and then he smiled crookedly. “But I’m afraid I must go. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the treacherous dog pays his debt”.

Batman had been watching him, but wasn’t fast enough to prevent Ra’s Al Ghul from throwing a smoke grenade to the ground and flee through the window. The oldest vigilante followed him as fast as he could, but his foe had already vanished into the growing shadows of the city. Any other time, Batman would have followed. But now, he was tired, and there were much more important things to do.

Ra’s Al Ghul would come back as promised. But for now, the only thing he wanted was to be with his family.

 

By the time Batman returned with the kids, everybody had already lumped together around Dick, who was still in the floor, dressed as the Red Hood. Both Barbara and Tim were holding him tight, both of them crying and both of them refusing to let him go.

Jason was sitting cross-legged in from of them, and wore a weary grin, but also a relieved one. And then, there was Dick.

He looked tired, but his eyes were bright and he was laughing softly, whispering soothing words to the kids and stroking their head. Batman approached the group slowly.

“Dick” muttered the vigilante, and even if he could feel a swarm of conflicting emotions, the only one he cared for now was relief.

The young man turned towards his mentor, and gave him a warm and reassuring smile. “Hey, Bruce. Sorry I had to keep you guys in the dark for so long.”

The older man opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He shook his head and sighed wearily. “I’m just glad you are safe, Dick” he muttered.

The young man stared at him for a second, and then gently separated himself from Batgirl and Robin. He extended his hand towards him, and the man couldn’t resist anymore. He fell on his knees and hugged the boy he had thought dead. It was crushing and desperate, and Batman finally was able to breathe deeply and lift the weight he had been carrying for the past days.

“Thank God you’re alright” he repeated. “Thank God”

Dick laughed a little breathlessly and patted him in the back. “It’s good to be back” he said. Batman only nodded, and clutched his boy tighter.

A movement on the corner of his eye caught his attention, and when he turned around, Batman saw Jason trying to get away unnoticed. He was on his feet before he knew what he was doing, and blocked the boy’s escape. Before the snarl had ended forming in the younger man’s throat, Bruce interrupted him.

“Thank you” said Batman, voice strained with the effort of trying to hold back tears. “For protecting him”.

Jason seemed struck by a thunder. He awkwardly nodded, wary of the man he’d hated for so long, a symbol of fear in Gotham, so vulnerable now. Beaten and tired, eyes red and without mask, all that was left was Bruce Wayne. Jason wasn’t looking at Batman anymore; he was looking at a father who had almost lost his son.

“I… love him” whispered Jason. “You don’t let the people you love die”.

Batman looked at him, then back the three bodies still fused in a tight embrace, and nodded slowly.

“No” agreed Batman, smiling faintly. “No, you don’t.”


	12. Home

“The Red Hood has, is and will always be Jason Todd. But for the past days, since my kidnapping’, I’ve been impersonating him. All the times I met with Batman and the others, all the times I gave Ra’s Al Ghul informs about what ‘Dick Grayson’ had said or not, all of that was me.

“I was never captured. Jason put me in the safest place he could find, and that was to become the hunter, not the prey. He’d pose as his other persona, Pete, to compromise the investigations until Ra’s Al Ghul was gone for good. But then Batman came into the picture, and we had to improvise a little since I failed to predict Amy would actually call Bruce Wayne.

“After meeting Batgirl and Robin, Jason and I had to rush our plan, and in the end we decided to make me ‘die’. Batman’s interference could discover our plan to Ra’s Al Ghul, and we needed to trick them both. The attack on Pete by the Red Hood, the bloodied Nightwing suit and the constant taunts of the Red Hood kept them from suspecting my real identity, as I hurried to put together the list of names and dealing of all those related to the drug trafficking…”

Dick sighed as he reclined in his seat in front of the computer of the cave and massaged his temples. Barbara watched him as he popped the joints of his fingers and then coughed rather loudly to make her presence known.

It had been a couple of days since the whole affair with Ra’s AL Ghul had happened, and things had been hectic. Bruce had been busier than ever, contacting the BHPD and telling that Dick was fine, that he had just lost his phone and keys and had been staying at a friend’s in Metropolis. Clark had been kind enough to cover that part with them when Amy called at his house to confirm this. She wasn’t buying it, though, and Dick had winced when they told him she had ordered him to give her a full inform about the issue.

On her part, Barbara had mostly slept for two days straight. She only had raised from the dead –oops, from the bed- to eat and go to the restroom. Her father had stared at her and asked if she wasn’t partying way too much lately. She hadn’t been awake enough to give him a coherent answer and instead went again to bed.

And now it had come the time to talk with Dick. She had wanted to shake him and ask him why do such a cruel thing to them, why leave the family out. But when she saw him seated in the chair and biting his nail distractedly, she decided that kind of talk could wait.

He was alive, with them. It was enough for now.

“I knew you were there, Babs” said Dick, turning around and smiling broadly. “I can recognize that shampoo everywhere.”

She rolled he eyes and huffed, amused.

“That’s because you fell in love with it when we were going out and decided to copy me and use it on yourself” she said, pinching him in the cheek with maybe a little more force than it was necessary.

“Ow!” he shrieked, surprised. “What was that for?”

She shrugged and smiled. “Oh, you know. Girl things”.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Right” he said, his voice only mildly irritated.

“So how is it going with your boyfriend?” she asked out of the blue, surprising Dick again.

He glanced at her and shrugged. “Well, alright I guess. He hasn’t said much about anything these two days” he said.

She frowned, worried. “Are you guys fighting?” she asked.

“What? No! It’s just, we haven’t talked much” hurried Dick.

“Then what are you doing all the…” she started, confused, and then suddenly dawned on her. Her cheeks flared and she started babbling. “Oh. Oh, God, you guys…!”

Dick shrugged again, with a bashful expression. “Uh, well, yeah” he said, blushing too and making her even more awkward than before.

“Oh God, I really didn’t need that image in my head” she moaned, putting her head in her hands and shaking it in denial.

Dick laughed, although it was a little higher than normal, and in the end she caved in and joined him. When they finally stopped chuckling she looked at him and asked the most important question.

“Are you happy?”

And he gave her that warm and beautiful smile he had and said, “Yes, I am.”

 

“Do you think Bruce will adopt Jason too, Alfred?” asked Tim that night, after getting rid of his math assignment. At last.

The butler raised his head from the chair where he was sitting, watching Tim to prevent him from fleeing from his homework. Since the last few days he they all had been too focused on Dick’s disappearance, and the work from school had been piling up. “Pardon?” he asked, politely.

The boy shrugged. “You know, like he adopted Dick and me.”

The older man sighed and closed the book he was currently reading. “I don’t believe that will happen in the foreseeable future, master Tim” he said. “The circumstances of their meeting, and the fact that Bruce himself doesn’t know if Mr. Todd is trustworthy…”

“Dick trusts him” interrupted Tim, intensely staring at the butler. “Isn’t that enough?”

Alfred smiled knowingly. “I would dare say it’s precisely because master Dick is so close to Mr. Todd that Bruce is even more wary of him” he said.

“Because they are going out? I guess Bruce wouldn’t be too happy…” conjectured the boy, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Alfred regarded him for a few moments, and shook his head. “Sometimes, I worry if living this life has made you mature too soon” he commented. “But, yes, because they are engaged in a romantic relationship, it’s even more difficult to adopt Mr. Todd. Bruce hasn’t met him as a potential partner, but as Dick’s lover. Trust will come later” he explained.

Time sighed, dejectedly, and sketched some bats in his papers. “I think it would be nice, though. I like Jason” he insisted. He looked at Alfred excitedly and got up from his chair. “ Just this morning, he taught me a move from when he had to fight people way bigger than him and it’s totally awesome!”

The veteran butler raised an eyebrow with suspicion. “Maybe you should wait until Bruce and Mr. Todd warm to each other before training with him, master Tim.”

The boy pouted and grumbled a little. “You’re such a party-pooper, Alfred” he said, flopping down on his seat again and taking up the pencil again. “But I really want him to be a part of the family. I’d love having Dick as the nice older brother that shares ice-cream with you, and the cool older brother that teaches you tricks. It would be great, having more people here at the Manor. Sometimes it gets lonely” he said, quietly.

Alfred watched the boy again, feeling a wave of sympathy towards him. Even if he was a strong kid that had had to mature too soon for his years, he was still a child, and the Manor wasn’t always the warmest place to grow up. “It does sometimes, indeed” he conceded, and gave himself the luxury of thinking of such a home, with one more rowdy incorporation to their dysfunctional but strangely comforting family. He felt himself smiling at the image. “Maybe it would not be such a bad idea, after all” he said, in the end.

Tim just grinned widely, before resuming his homework in higher spirits.

“If you hurt him I swear I’ll castrate you myself” said Barbara just before sitting by Jason’s side in the garden of the Manor.

The younger man stared at her, cigarette in mouth, and then burst laughing. She was making a real effort to keep his face emotionless, but it was proving to be very difficult.

“I’ll have to be careful then” he said, still chuckling. Then he put out the smoke and glanced towards her. “So, your real name is Barbara Gordon, huh? And does daddy know what you do at nights?”

“He thinks I’m out partying” she said, sighing.

He snorted. “Yeah, life’s good when you bust bad guys dressed in tight spandex and wearing cowls.”

She huffed, mildly annoyed. “Like you have any right to talk, Red Hood. I’ve seen the domino you keep under the helmet, and that’s way worse than my cowl.”

“Point taken. Remind me not to cross, you Babsie. You’re one scary woman” he cackled.

“And don’t you ever forget that” she said, his grin proving contagious when it appeared on her face too.

“I don’t think I will” he said, grinning. “We’re so going to be best friends, you and I.”

She barked a laugh. “Ha! Keep dreaming on, Red.”

He grinned wolfishly. “Only if you give me permission to do it, Bat-babe” he leered.

“You call me that again and you’ll have to ask Dick to put liniment on your sorry ass after I’m finished kicking it” she said, and wondered if a punch in the face would be seen as aggression.

“Dick doesn’t need any reason to put anything on my ass, Bat-babe. I’m pretty agreeable on that front” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

This time she really threw the punch.

 

“Bruce, for how long have I known you?” asked Clark, peacefully, and only got a grumble as answer. The man only laughed and rested his hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

“You should tell the boys what you really think” he suggested.

“I already did that”.

“No, you told them what you wanted them to hear. Not what you wanted to tell them”.

“You’re starting to sound like Alfred.”

“That’s a compliment, actually” said Superman, quite cheerfully. “And if he has already told you to speak up your mind, you should do it.”

Silence. Clark sighed at the other man’s stubbornness. It was endearing most of the times, but Bruce could really learn to relax.

“You are worried about Dick, aren’t you? You’re afraid that if Jason turns out bad Dick won’t be able to bear it.”

A warning growl told Clark he was right.

“And you’re afraid that Jason won’t be able to forgive you, and that close proximity to the family will only cause him more pain. That he won’t be able to go away and the resentment will only grow because he’s so in love with Dick that he’d go to Hell and back for him…”

“Clark!” snarled Batman.

The Kryptonian smiled fondly, and waited for his friend.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” asked Bruce in the end.

Clark smiled warmly. “Yes, Bruce, they’ll be alright. If it’s those two, I think they can make it work”.

Batman groaned, but his friend knew that the vigilante was satisfied for now. However, Clark couldn’t resist teasing him for a little longer.

“By the way, I think Jason will love the gift. Very thoughtful, Bruce” he said.

“ _Clark._ ”

“Hey, you didn’t cover the gift with lead” laughed Superman. “It’s not my fault”.

 

“Is he trying to buy me with gifts? ‘Cause if he is, this is definitely the way to go” said Jason, staring at the brand new suit he had found in his room at the manor. A dark gray bulletproof suit with a red bat painted in the chest, a new and shiny red helmet and an expensive looking brown leather jacket. But the best were the twin stun guns that went with the gift.

Dick just laughed at Jason’s obvious enthusiasm.

“Welcome to the Wayne family, where half of his fortune is spent on making sure we don’t bleed to death in a dark alley” he said. Jason just gave him a look and nodded.

“Cool” he said. “And in less than a week after meeting me”.

Dick left Jason alone for a little, letting him play with his new toys, until he started fidgeting thinking about asking the million-dollar question that had been in his head for days now.

“So… Are you going to…?”

“No”.

“You didn’t even let me finish”.

“Okay, finish then”.

“Are you going to live in the Manor?”

“No”.

“Jason…”

“No. Look, Dick, I still can’t forget him. I just can’t. And I don’t want to see his face 24/7 to remind me of how he left my mom to die in the fire.”

Dick didn’t have an answer for that, and he sighed, disappointed. He should have known it wouldn’t be so simple for Jason to forgive Batman, even if the only guilty was the Joker.

Then Jason clicked his tongue, irritated, and frowned.

“Anyway, don’t we have our house back in Blüdhaven?” he asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Dick stared at him. “Our house?” he repeated.

“Yes, you know, the fucking huge house with a real-size dino and all my newly bought clothes” he repeated, as if the older man was completely missing the point.

Then Dick laughed loudly, because some things were actually pretty simple, and you didn’t really need to make them more difficult. “Our house” he said. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get back home.”

 

“I’ve been remembering things about that night, you know?” said Jason one night, barely a month after the whole Ra’s Al Ghul affair.

Dick snuggled closer to him on the bed and nodded for him to continue.

“My mom had actually been near the window, while I was watching TV in my room. When the building went up in flames, instead of saving herself, she came back for me and took me out of that blazing inferno by herself. Then a pillar collapsed and fell on top of her leg, and I screamed and screamed. Then Batman found us, me halfway the other side from all the smoke in my lungs and mom trapped under a burning building. But I remember her now, how she yelled at Batman to take me first, to save me from the fire. That if she couldn’t be saved, she’d at least go with a smile on her face knowing I was safe.

“I hope she did. She had the prettiest smile” finished Jason, and Dick kissed him.

“What happened?” asked the older man softly.

“Bruce took me out and left me with the paramedics. I hadn’t even touched the ground when he turned around to get back inside the building, even though it had already collapsed. I think I saw some cops trying to make him back off, saying that it was too dangerous and unstable. I think that’s when I kind of died. I don’t remember much of anything anymore.”

They both fell silent once again, and then Jason breathed deeply and closed his eyes.

“I won’t forgive him” he said. “Not yet.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..... and it's done. I can't believe I really managed to put down this monster.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading it, and giving me your support through and through. I really hope you enjoyed the story, since it was the first time I attempted to write something so big and with a plot (!).
> 
> Really, guys, thank you so much! You're free to comment on anything if you want, as always. 'Til the next time <3<3


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